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According to an Office for National Statistics bulletin, 23 per cent of deaths in England and Wales could be prevented through earlier effective treatment or the adoption of healthier lifestyle choices. The NHS Health Check is promoted as 'the mid-life MOT', assessing people's risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, based on common risk factors, and providing appropriate support and advice.

Launched by the Department of Health in 2009, the NHS Health Check programme is supposed to offer every person in England between 40 and 74 years of age a five-yearly check-up. It uses a combination of personal details, family history and lifestyle risk factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol levels).

To date, implementation of the programme has been poor. The latest national NHS data reveals that in 2013-14, only 13.2 per cent of the eligible population was offered a NHS Health Check and, of these, less than 50 per cent actually received one. According to the report, 'NHS Health Checks in Local Authorities', published by Diabetes UK in April 2014, just 6.4 per cent of adults aged 40 to 74 years had the health check in the first nine months since responsibility for the programme switched from the NHS to local government control. (To meet the target that has been set, this figure should have been 11.25 per cent.)

€The NHS Health Check is one of the best new health initiatives this country has seen in recent years and, if rolled out properly, has the potential to prevent thousands of cases of type 2 diabetes and identify many people who are undiagnosed,€ says Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, €but it will only have the maximum benefit if everyone who is supposed to get a health check actually gets one.

€At the moment, that is not happening. Also, it is worrying that in some areas, hardly anyone is getting a check. In those areas, it really needs to be a priority to change this, so that people get these checks wherever they live.€

The NHS Health Check is one of the best new health initiatives this country has seen in recent years

A recent briefing from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in February this year provided support to local government to encourage more people to access the service. One of the recommendations was that NHS Health Checks should be carried out in a wider range of settings, such as community pharmacies, so that they are easily accessible to as many people as possible. Although some community pharmacies have already been commissioned as providers, it is still mainly GPs who offer the service.

€Pharmacies are ideally placed to raise the rate of testing by identifying people at risk,€ says English Pharmacy Board vice-chair Ash Soni. €But they need to be more proactive and it would help if they have access to the local call/recall system. If customers come in with a prescription, then the pharmacy team could look on the system to check whether they are eligible. Most people stand around waiting for a prescription, and this provides the perfect opportunity to engage them in conversation. In our pharmacy, we find most people are responsive.€