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Seventy pharmacies in East London providing free cholesterol tests as part of a pilot launched last summer have rolled them out to 1,000 patients and identified 163 who are at high risk of a heart attack or stroke.

The seven-minute test, which was first launched in Newham, shows an individual’s cholesterol levels and estimates their risk of heart problems over the next 10 years.

Barts Health NHS Trust said the Government is evaluating the programme and could roll the tests out nationally. The tests are being provided to pharmacies by Barts Health Centre in partnership with UCL Partners, Community Pharmacy North-East London, North-East and North Central London integrated care board, HEART UK and NHS England.

Sotoros Antoniou, the programme's clinical lead, said 50 those 163 patients “were started on cholesterol-lowering treatments through their pharmacy without the need to go through their GP”.

“What we're trying to do is pick up people in order to identify them as high risk, in order to prevent them from having heart attacks,” he said.

“We know that the cost of treatment for having a heart attack is far more expensive than trying to prevent somebody having a heart attack.”

Barts Health NHS Trust, who revealed 220 people in East London die from heart and circulatory conditions every month, said: “The service connects people to support for healthier living, including advice on diet, exercise and quitting smoking.”

Shilpa Patel, a patient who took the test in Poplar, told BBC London: "My parents suffered with high cholesterol. My dad died at an early age of a heart attack. I think for me I'm at an age where I should try and stay on top of these things.”