Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people over 65 can access free health checks every five years.

The NHS Health Check programme, England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, aims to prevent CVD in people aged 40 to 74 years old, and is offered every five years. During 2023/24, over 1.4 million people received an NHS Health Check, and through behavioural and clinical interventions, the programme prevents approximately 500 heart attacks and strokes a year.

To improve access and engagement with the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new digital service which will complement the existing face to face programme and enable people to undertake the NHS Health Check in the comfort of their own home.

The Department is developing policy proposals and advice to ministers on options to improve the uptake and impact of the NHS Health Check programme. The work will consider the recommendations of the recent National Audit Office’s report, Progress on CVD Prevention.