NHS Health Checks

Goals

• Target people with high risk factors to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other non- communicable disease. It will have more focus on tackling inequalities, systematically identifying individuals and groups who need a Health Check most, including:
  • Older people within eligible population
  • Current smokers
  • People from Asian & Black backgrounds
  • More men than women
  • People with depression and/or anxiety
  • People who live in deprived areas
  • Priority to people with multiple risk factors
  • Maximise uptake through regular practice and patient communication, as well as adopting point of care testing (POCT) to maximise the likelihood of completing a health check within a single appointment.

• Make appointments as accessible as possible to patients by offering appointments in surgeries located in the East and West of the borough.
• Raise awareness of a healthy lifestyle through education and engagement with borough-wide services, such as One You Haringey.

Referrals and Patient Contact

How does it work?

Eligible patients will receive a phone call from the service administrator or Health Care Assistant inviting them for an appointment. During the phone call, the patient will be given information on what the health check is, what is covered and why it is important to accept the offer of a health check. On acceptance of an appointment, a confirmation text will be sent to the patient containing details of the appointment i.e., date, time, location, and contact number if they need to cancel. Patients will receive a phone call on three separate occasions before they will be discharged from the service. All appointments are made centrally on the Community EMIS for Haringey.

Our allocated Health Care Assistant (HCA) provides patients with a 20-minute appointment for a physical health check which covers the standard base markers of body mass index, blood pressure, alcohol consumption, smoking status, a blood test for cholesterol and lifestyle advice, including referral to One You Haringey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you? Why aren’t you my doctors?

We are the Haringey GP Federation, and we work with all GPs across the borough of Haringey. We are working with your GP practice ____ to offer these 20-minute appointments for these physical health checks.

Why can’t I have an appointment at my surgery?

I am sorry that we cannot offer you an appointment at your surgery. Only Charlton House Medical Centre are able to provide a room, without disrupting the day to day running of their practice. You will receive a text message of the full address of the surgery you will be sent to.

Do I have to have the blood test? I am scared of needles.

Please ask the HCA to administer your blood via point of care testing, which is a pinprick test, as opposed to a needle. The blood test is part of the health check, however if you really do not want to have it done then you do not have too. Our blood test checks your blood sugar levels as a precursor for diabetes and cholesterol levels which can lead to heart problems. We are offering these blood tests so that we can catch any warning signs early.

But I have had a blood test done recently?

Thank you for letting me know. I cannot see that on my system, this does not mean there is anything wrong, it just may not have been fully processed yet. I will let the Health Care Assistant know about the blood test so they can view the results. We wouldn’t want to complete another blood test so close together, however the blood test we are requesting would check your blood sugar and cholesterol levels.