High street heart checks

Pharmacists are set to offer rapid detection and help for killer conditions like heart disease as part of a major revamp of high street pharmacy services.

The high street heart checks are part of an ambitious target the NHS in England has set to prevent tens of thousands of strokes and heart attacks over the next ten years.

As part of their new £13 billion five-year contract, from 1 October, community pharmacists will start to develop and test an early detection service to identify people who may have undiagnosed high-risk conditions, like high blood pressure, for referral for further testing and treatment.

If successful, this could be rolled out to all community pharmacies in 2021-22.

Pharmacists will case-find and offer blood pressure tests to people showing symptoms, provide clinical and lifestyle advice or referral, and record the data, joining up services and treatment with GPs and other local services, to speed up access to care. 

Experts have suggested that that programme, which may roll out to every pharmacy in the country, could potentially prevent up to 150,000 heart attacks and strokes in the next 10 years.

People would be checked for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and irregular heart rhythms – all high-risk conditions that that most commonly cause heart disease and stroke, as well as many cases of dementia. 

England’s top doctor, Professor Stephen Powis, said: “Heart disease and strokes dramatically cut short lives, and leave thousands of people disabled every year, so rapid detection of killer conditions through High street heart checks will be a game-changer.

“Reducing lifestyle risks and treating high-risk conditions such as smoking, obesity, poor diet and physical inactivity are key to preventing serious ill health, and the NHS Long Term Plan will help people take positive action for their own wellbeing, while investing in life-changing services, close to home, when ill health hits.”

Work to identify and treat people with high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms has already been tried successfully in Lambeth and Southwark, Dudley and West Hampshire, where there has been substantial improvement in rates of diagnosis and optimal treatment – at the same time freeing up clinical time for GPs.

As a result of the successful Lambeth and Southwark pilot, a new £9million programme to spot heart conditions aimed at saving at least 200 lives and offering protection to thousands more, has been rolled out to 23 CCGs across England.

Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive of Heart Research UK, said: “It is estimated that seven million people in the UK are living with cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease is still the nation’s single biggest killer, responsible for more than 66,000 deaths a year.

“Despite this, many people are still not aware of the risk factors. That’s why these free, accessible checks are so welcome. The more people that are aware of their blood pressure and cholesterol numbers the better, as they can then take positive steps to reduce their risk of heart disease.

“Diagnosis of conditions such as atrial fibrillation or high blood pressure by pharmacists will allow the right steps to be taken for patients sooner, reducing GPs workloads and allowing for earlier intervention.

“Anything that can reduce stress on the NHS and help to improve public knowledge around heart disease can only be a good thing.”

As the NHS expands health help in every community across England, community pharmacists will offer an ever-increasing range of clinical health checks and treatment, alongside their core offer of medicines advice and prescriptions and consultations for minor illnesses such as earache, sore throats, coughs and colds.

Rochdale Online has requested a list of all pharmacies offering the service in the borough from the local Clinical Commissioning Group.