The NHS Health Check is a national risk assessment and management programme for those aged 40 to 74 years of age living in England. It aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease and raise awareness of dementia for those aged 65-74 years. People in the eligible category should be offered an NHS Health Check every five years. The programme aims to identify an estimated 44,000 new cases of hypertension, 10,000 new cases of diabetes and 4,500 new cases of kidney disease in England every year. 

The NHS Health Check is made up of three components:

1. Risk assessment: this uses standardised tests to measure key risk factors and establish a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease
2. Risk awareness: the outcome of the assessment is then used to raise awareness of cardiovascular risk factors
3. Risk management: lifestyle and medical approaches that suit the individual’s health risk are offered.

As well as having to be aged between 40 and 74 years, to be eligible for an NHS Health Check, people have to:

• Be registered with a GP in England 
• Not have had an NHS Health Check in the past five years
• Not have a prescription for statins or be having treatment for any of the following long-term conditions: high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease or stroke.

What’s in an NHS Health Check?

The NHS Health Check targets the country’s top seven causes of premature mortality:

• High blood pressure
• Smoking
• High cholesterol
• Obesity
• Poor diet
• Physical inactivity 
• Alcohol consumption.

These are the biggest causes of preventable deaths in the UK, affecting around seven million people a year.

Evaluation

The first major evaluation of the NHS Health Check in England, led by Queen Mary University of London, found that:

• One in 27 people who have an NHS Health Check are diagnosed with hypertension
• One in 110 people who have the check are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 
• One in 265 people are diagnosed with renal disease
• And 14 per cent of attendees are referred for lifestyle interventions due to obesity, smoking, alcohol or blood pressure, compared with just six per cent who are referred through standard care.

The evaluation also showed that the number of eligible people attending needs to increase – the figure stands at just under 50 per cent. The programme is most effective at targeting those aged over 60, but further encouragement is needed to increase the uptake among those aged 40-60 years. Community pharmacy plays a critical role in this NHS programme by providing patients with easy access to the service in their locality.