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Preventative health checks will save lives - PM

1 April, 2008

The Prime Minister has set out the Government's plans for a national programme of preventative health checks that is expected to save up to 10,000 lives a year.

The programme, announced in January, will allow everyone aged 40 to 74 in England to undergo free vascular check-ups for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. Watching a patient receive a check-up at Brocklebank Health Centre in Wandsworth, south London, Mr Brown described the new scheme as the "future of the health service".

The Prime Minister said:

"We are giving people preventative treatment, enabling us to save up to 10,000 lives a year. Gradually we will introduce this service throughout the whole country.''

Patients will now be able to receive examinations which were only available privately in the past, he said. The checks will be based on straightforward questions and measurements such as age, sex, family history, smoking, height, weight and blood pressure and will also include a simple blood test for cholesterol.

Evidence shows that this new screening programme will prevent at least 9,500 heart attacks and strokes every year and prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes. The check-up initiative will be funded by an injection of £250m.

51-year-old patient John Brennan, from Wandsworth, told the PM and Health Minister Ann Keen he felt "100 per cent happier" with the local service. "It puts my mind at rest,' he said.

Dr Tom Coffey, who headed the pilot check-up programme at the health centre, said more than 50 per cent of patients screened so far had required some treatment. Preventative checks "can be cost-effective and save lives in the long run," he said.

The programme is due to be implemented fully in 2009/10 after consultation with key partners across the NHS, the medical profession and the voluntary sectors.

Also announced today was the extension of a scheme to help patients on low incomes with the costs of travelling to health care appointments, allowing more people to access the healthcare that best suits their needs.

 

Image copyright: Reuters