NHS Health Checks

You may be offered an NHS Health Check if you are aged 40 to 74, live in England and do not already have heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, or stroke.

You are usually invited every 5 years.

An NHS Health Check takes about 20 minutes.

The clinician will ask you some questions about your lifestyle and family history, measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure and do a blood test. The blood test will usually be done during your health check appointment.

Your blood test results can show your chances of getting heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes.

If you're over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for.

When the blood results are back you will then receive personalised advice to calculate your cardiovascular risk (QRisk3). You will be told your results and what they mean. Personalised advice will be given to you during both appointments. This advice might include:

• Advice on healthy eating, movement, or stopping smoking
• Support services you can access
• Medicines if needed
• Reassurance if no action is needed
• Follow on tests if needed

We offer NHS Health Check clinics at Orford Jubilee Hub as part of our Primary Care Network (PCN). Health Checks may also be available at your GP practice or during evening and weekend Enhanced Access appointments.

You'll be invited by the GP practice for a free NHS Health Check every 5 years if you're between 40 and 74 years of age and do not already have a pre-existing condition. You can also contact your GP practice to book if you think you might be eligible.

Yes. NHS Health Checks help find health problems early, often before people feel unwell.

The checks look for conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. These are some of the biggest causes of early illness and death in the UK.

Research shows that:

• For every 30 to 40 people who have a Health Check, 1 person is found to have high blood pressure

• For every 80 to 200 people, 1 person is found to have type 2 diabetes

• For every 6 to 10 people, 1 person is found to be at high risk of heart disease or stroke

Finding these problems early means people can get support and treatment sooner, which can help prevent serious illness, and help people to live for longer in good health.

You do not have to wait for an NHS Health Check to learn more about taking care of your health.

You can find information about most health conditions and how to have a healthier lifestyle on the NHS website. For example:

• Take the NHS online Heart Age test to see your risk of getting heart disease or stroke
• Find out if you're a healthy weight using our healthy weight calculator
• Take the How Are You quiz to see how healthy you are