Operational update - Jamie Waterall, National lead - NHS Health Check and blood pressure programmes

The start of a new year brings an opportunity to pause, reflect and consider what we could do differently in the year ahead. As we approach the end of the third year of local authority statutory responsibility for commissioning the NHS Health Check, I’m keen to understand the impact of our support and to consider priority areas of focus for the year ahead. This is why we have commissioned Research Works to conduct an online survey and interviews with local colleagues involved in the programme. These findings will then be used to update our NHS Health Check action plan . I want to relay my deepest thanks to those of you who have shared your views and experiences through this work. We will disseminate the initial findings at our conference on 1 March 2016.

It is important that we celebrate success and share important learning from the implementation of the programme. I would therefore like to thank HEART UK for hosting the second annual NHS Health Check awards, which took place at the Issues and Answers conference in November last year. Thank you to all those teams who submitted an entry, and congratulations to all of the winners. Further information about the awards and winners can be found here.

In November last year we published the latest data on offers and uptake of the programme. It is tremendous to see that most areas are on track for inviting 100% of their eligible population and I am aware that many local authorities continue to focus on ways to increase uptake, particularly those at greatest risk. Can I remind commissioning leads to submit your quarter three activity data by midday on 29 January 2016, which will then be published on 25 February 2016.

I would like to congratulate the primary care CVD leadership forum, which is chaired by Dr Matt Kearney, for their tremendous efforts in campaigning for primary care leadership to improve patient outcomes. The forum has been working closely with the national cardiovascular intelligence network and others to produce these helpful resources aimed at our primary care colleagues: Atrial Fibrillation Resource Hypertension Resource (available from 18 January 2016)

Over the past few months, Katherine Thompson (national programme manager) has been leading a refresh of the NHS Health Check dementia leaflet. I would like to thank Katherine and all those involved in producing this excellent resource. Copies of the leaflet will be available for ordering via the order line.

Finally, if you have not yet registered for the annual NHS Health Check conference, I would urge you to book your place soon, as we have almost reached our maximum delegate registration numbers. Further information can be found on the conference website.