The NHS Health Check is a free check-up of your overall health. It can tell you whether you’re at higher risk of getting certain health problems, such as:
- heart disease
- diabetes
- kidney disease
- stroke
If you’re over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for.
If you’re aged 40-74 and you haven’t had a stroke, or you don’t already have heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, you should have an NHS Health Check every five years.
Any follow-up tests or appointments are also free of charge.
How will the NHS Health Check help me?
As well as measuring your risk of developing these health problems, an NHS Health Check gives you advice on how to prevent them.
The risk level varies from person to person, but everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and some types of dementia.
Your NHS Health Check can detect potential health problems before they do real damage.
What happens at the NHS Health Check?
An NHS Health Check takes about 15 minutes.
The health care professional – often a nurse or healthcare assistant – will ask you some simple questions about your lifestyle and family history, measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure and do a blood test – often using a small finger prick test.
Based on this, they will be able to give you an idea of 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.
You will then receive personalised advice to lower your risk. This could include talking about:
– improving your diet and the amount of physical activity you do
– taking medicines to lower your blood pressure or cholesterol
– how to lose weight or stop smoking
If you prefer, you can ask to see a man or a woman, but the questions aren’t embarrassing and you won’t have to take your clothes off during the check.
Read more about NHS Health Checks
