Can digital health checks improve prevention and diagnosis?

A landmark trial which aims to make it easier, and more convenient, for patients to carry out important health checks – and reduce pressure on GPs – has been launched in Cornwall

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on gov.uk

This trial will see patients complete an online questionnaire, use a kit to take a blood sample at home, and complete a blood pressure check at their local pharmacy or in their GP’s waiting room. It will apply some of the lessons learned during COVID-19 when people got used to doing tests at home and getting their results online.

A total of 15m people are eligible for free NHS Health Checks in England. It’s aimed at adults in England aged 40-to-74. It’s designed to prevent stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type two diabetes and some types of dementia. The check is currently delivered through face-to-face appointments with GPs, but many parts of it can be done without a GP – which would free-up more time for clinicians. At the moment, patients have to take time out of their day to go to the appointment – often an inconvenience to them – but the new trial aims to free-up time for them as well as for more urgent GP appointments.

More than 2,000 people from three GP surgeries across Cornwall are being invited to take part in the trial, but only those whose results indicate an underlying health condition will be followed up by their GPs. The results of the trial will help inform the design and development of the new national NHS Digital Health Check. The checks have the potential to:

• prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes a year;
• prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes;
• detect 20,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease each year;
• avoid at least 650 premature deaths a year.