NHS Health Checks prevented 8,400 heart attacks and strokes

A review, led by Queen Mary University of London, has indicated that NHS Health Checks may have prevented up to 8,400 heart attacks and strokes.

The news comes after Public Health England declared earlier in the year that it would be reviewing the evidence for the programme, after another piece of research found the scheme was coming up short of its targets.

The study looked at the first five years of the programme in three areas of London, including City and Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham. 85,122 people attended over the study period, with coverage of eligible people increasing from 36 per cent in the first year to 85 per cent in the latest. Attendance was higher for South Asian patients, older patients and those in more deprived sections of the population.

The study claimed that NHS Health Checks led to a 30 per cent increase in diagnosis for diabetes, a 50 per cent diagnosis increase for hypertension, 80 per cent for chronic kidney disease, compared to those who did not attend a health check. NHS Health Checks also led to 40 per cent more statins prescribed (11.5 per cent attendees were prescribed statins compared to 8.2 per cent of non-attendees).

The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, also estimated that this increased statin prescription could prevent 4,600 to 8,400 heart attacks, strokes or death in five years.

Dr John Robson, from Queen Mary University London, who led the study, said: “We saw a 30 to 80 per cent increase in the number of disease cases found, compared to those who did not attend, and 40 per cent more people were prescribed statins, so these are very substantial gains in public health terms.

“If you compare attendance levels with other programmes, such as the bowel screening programme, the coverage here is much better, so one would hope that would translate into earlier opportunities for greater protection for those people.”