Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 10
10
We recommend a more precautionary approach is taken and a greater proportion of the money...
Recommendation
We recommend a more precautionary approach is taken and a greater proportion of the money spent on elite sport is focussed on protecting the athletes who are at the core of UK success in sporting endeavours. We also recommend that UK Sport fund a chief medical officer to attend events, like the Olympics, who will hold over-arching responsibility to assess the application of protocols and make decisions on who should be allowed to continue to compete in the event of injuries, including head trauma, sustained in practice and competition. (Paragraph 40) Professional sport
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government agrees in part with this recommendation. The Government believes that the welfare of athletes should be of paramount importance, and that sports in receipt of public funding should look to lead the way in upholding the highest standards around safety and wellbeing. This includes a focus on prevention of injury wherever possible, while recognising that risk is an inherent element of many sporting activities. UK Sport funding agreements with national governing bodies of sport already include requirements around ensuring the protection of athletes. For example, all funded governing bodies have an obligation to ensure that sports science and sport medicine are integrated into their strategies and to have a demonstrable system for identifying and managing physical and mental health problems. We will look to strengthen the requirements on a consistent basis as protocols are developed and implemented and research allows for translatable programming. The English Institute of Sport employs a Director of Medical Services, who is responsible for standard setting and clinical governance matters of both medicine and physiotherapy service provision to those Olympic and Paralympic sports that buy into EIS services. The Director of Medical Services does not automatically attend major sporting events like the Olympics and Paralympics, as the provision of medical services for Team GB or ParalympicsGB are the responsibility of the British Olympic Association (BOA) and British Paralympic Association (BPA) respectively. Consequently, the BOA and BPA ensure that there is adequate medical provision for UK athletes, and this does not necessitate the additional presence of a UK Sport-funded Chief Medical Officer.