Twenty minutes . . . to change your life
A free, 20-minute NHS Health Check could change your life. That’s the message from Buckinghamshire County Council to residents aged 40 – 74 to encourage them to visit their doctor for a health check-up.
Noel Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health, said“The risk of heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and stroke increases over the age of 40. People can make small changes in lifestyle and really reduce the risk of these illnesses becoming worse later on in life. The message is about helping us to help you keep fit and well. Take up the offer of a free NHS Health Check and change your life in 20 minutes.”
The NHS Health Check offer has been available to eligible* Buckinghamshire residents for the past five years and during this period over 68,000 people across the county have attended one.
Noel Brown said: “It is great to hear that over 68,000 residents have been for an NHS Health Check, but that only equates to 45% of those invited so there is plenty of room for improvement. I want people to view having a Health Check as normal as taking your car for its MOT.”
Letters from GPs invite people for an NHS Health Check, although there’s nothing to stop people making the first move and asking their surgery for an NHS Health Check.
Noel also said “Recent studies show that people from a South Asian heritage such as Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi, are more likely to suffer from specific health issues so we want to really encourage people from this group to take up the NHS Health Check offer.”
To be eligible for an NHS Health Check, you must:
- Be aged between 40 and 74
- Live in Buckinghamshire
- Not already been diagnosed withheart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, or had a stroke
- Not had an NHS Health Check in the past five years