Uptake of cardiovascular risk assessment and prescribing of statins in high risk patients was considerably lower than projected in the first year of NHS Health Checks programme. Targeting efforts to increase uptake and adherence to interventions in high risk populations and reinvesting resources into population wide strategies to reduce obesity, smoking and salt intake may prove more cost-effective in reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease in the UK.

The workload implications of the NHS Health Checks programme for general practices in England are substantial. There are considerable variations in risk factor recording between practices and between age, gender and ethnic groups.

No abstract