Regular cardiovascular health checks for people aged 40 to 74 revived

The public health programme aims to prevent or delay cardiovascular illness – which is the leading cause of premature death in England – including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

It became a compulsory service from 2013 but stopped during Covid-19 and now the council is rebooting it.

Councillors on the finance committee are expected to approve plans to hire a provider to run the service on a five-year cycle at an estimated cost of £925,000 in a meeting on Tuesday, August 1.

In a report prepared for the meeting, council officers said: “The NHS Health Check programme can help individuals reduce their risk by offering treatment and management plans; signposting for help and advice across a range of risk factors and lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, alcohol use, weight management, diet and physical activity.

“The programme also aims to raise awareness of the signs of dementia as there are similar risk factors for CVD as there are for developing dementia.”

The service – which was previously run by Primary Care Sheffield – is for people within the age group who do not have any pre-existing cardiovascular conditions. They are checked every five years.

Council officers said: “The NHS Health Check programme in Sheffield will offer health checks firstly to Sheffield residents who we know are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and at a younger age. The aim of this is to reduce health inequalities across the city.

“This can have an economic impact as CVD risk factors can be prevented or managed at an earlier stage resulting in a healthier workforce and less resources needed in adult and social care.”

Council officers said it was one of the conditions most strongly associated with health inequalities.

The service cannot be delivered in-house because of lack of capacity and staff with appropriate skills as well as the costs associated with staffing and access to appropriate data, the council said.