People across England will soon be able to receive free cholesterol tests at participating high-street pharmacies as the NHS expands a rapid testing programme designed to identify cardiovascular risks earlier.
The seven-minute finger-prick test will initially be available this autumn to eligible adults aged 40 to 84 who have not had a blood test within the previous year. Pharmacists can provide results within minutes and offer advice on lifestyle changes or treatment where appropriate.
The national rollout follows a successful programme pioneered in East London by Barts Health NHS Trust, UCLPartners and partner organisations. The test provides a full cholesterol profile and estimates a person’s risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke over the following 10 years.
During an earlier North London pilot involving 2,493 people, around one in five participants was identified as being at high cardiovascular risk. The programme also enabled some patients to begin cholesterol-lowering treatment through pharmacies without first having to attend a GP appointment.
Bringing prevention closer to communities
High cholesterol often produces no noticeable symptoms, meaning people can remain unaware of their risk until they develop cardiovascular disease.
Jagjot Kaur Chahal, cardiovascular disease prevention lead pharmacist involved in the East London programme, said pharmacies provide a convenient and trusted setting for people to discover their cardiovascular risk before a serious event occurs.
The approach is part of a wider shift towards bringing healthcare out of hospitals and GP surgeries and into community settings. NHS England has increasingly expanded the role of pharmacies in prevention, screening and treatment, with pharmacists taking on more clinical responsibilities.
The East London programme has demonstrated how this model can work in practice. Barts Health reported that the seven-minute test had been expanded to 70 pharmacies across east London, with hundreds of people already assessed for cardiovascular risk.
For communities where access to traditional healthcare appointments can be difficult, placing testing on the high street could make prevention more accessible.
The NHS hopes the national programme will contribute to its ambition of reducing deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25 per cent over the next decade.
For London residents, the expansion represents another step towards detecting cardiovascular risk earlier; potentially giving people the opportunity to act before a heart attack or stroke occurs.
