Operational update by Jamie Waterall, National lead for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention & Associate Deputy Chief Nurse

The NHS Health Check is becoming a key foundation for a number of prevention strategies. For example, the NHS Health Check is now recognised as one of the principle referral routes into the National Diabetes Prevention Programme. In addition, pilots are underway this year to explore how the NHS Health Check can be used to inform the public of the key risk factors for dementia. NHS England is also piloting the delivery of NHS Health Checks to their workforce, to focus on the key risk factors for ill health. What is clear is that we need a radical upgrade in prevention and the NHS Health Check provides us with multiple opportunities in supporting this agenda.

Last month we published the latest official statistics for the NHS Health Check programme. This data showed that between April 2013 and April 2016, 8.7 million people have been offered an NHS Health Check and 4.2 million people have received a check. Many local authorities managed to improve upon the number of people receiving a check within the last year and I would like to congratulate those teams. We know that the NHS Health Check provides us with an important public health programme, which is addressing the principle risk factors for premature death and ill heath, so we must work together in ensuring more people are able to access these checks.

Our Expert Scientific and Clinical Advisory Panel (ESCAP) met last month to discuss the existing diabetes filter used in the programme. It was agreed that a public consultation would be held, detailing the group’s intention to align with the NICE guidance on Type 2 Diabetes but also identifying clear thresholds for when people should go on to receive follow-up blood testing. Further information will be made available on our NHS Health Check website over the coming weeks.

Finally, I wanted to inform colleagues that PHE have been advised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA), that the TPP Q-Risk tools has been reinstated and is now working correctly. NHS England is leading on activity to ensure anyone affected by the incident is followed up appropriately. Further information can be found on the MRHA website.