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Uptake of the NHS Health Check in England remains inadequate

A new analysis from Diabetes UK indicates that less than half of the individuals aged ≥40 years eligible for an NHS Health Check have actually undergone one in the last 5 years. The NHS Health Check is a 5-yearly check-up programme launched in 2009 with the goal of identifying early signs of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), stroke, kidney disease, heart disease and dementia. It is also a key route for referral into the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme for individuals at risk for T2DM.

There is a lot of regional variation in the uptake of the programme across England. While 50% of the eligible population in the East of England received the health checks between 2013 and 2018; the figure was 35% in the South West. The variation is even more pronounced on a local authority level, with the best performing local authorities having a 5-fold higher attendance rate than the worst.  

Although local authorities are legally bound to show improvements in the uptake of health checks since 2013, the majority of them delivered fewer NHS Health Checks in 2017-2018 than they did in 2015-2016. Diabetes UK is urging local authorities to encourage people and make it easier for them to receive their health check. 


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