One-in-ten take health check offer (From Wharfedale Observer)
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One-in-ten take health check offer
7:00am Tuesday 15th January 2013 in Local news
Patients at risk of developing health problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, are missing out on NHS health checks.
The checks were first offered in 2010 to people aged between 40 and 74 once every five years on a rolling programme.
It started by targeting the 1,400 people who were at greater risk of developing certain conditions.
Latest figures show that in 2011/12 only 190 such checks were performed in the Bradford district.
Across Yorkshire, 150,000 were offered the checks but the figures reveal huge disparity in access to them. Overall, 88,000 tests were carried out but take-up rates varied from 90 per cent in Rotherham to fewer than ten per cent in Bradford.
The checks take about 20 to 30 minutes and are based on questions and measurements such as height, weight and blood pressure.
