Empowering communities: the role of councils in preventing cardiovascular disease

We know that local communities across England are facing an epidemic of largely preventable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and liver disease.

One in 10 people continue to live with cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is the second biggest cause of death in England with 390 people dying each day from a heart attack or stroke. Every day there are over 1,200 admissions to accident and emergency because of heart problems and 290 as a result of cerebrovascular problems. 

Heart and circulatory diseases cause just over a quarter (26 per cent) of all deaths in England; that’s over 140,000 deaths each year – an average of 390 people each day or one death every four minutes.

CVD is one of the conditions most strongly associated with health inequalities. If you live in England’s most deprived areas, you are almost four times more likely to die prematurely than someone in the least deprived. Furthermore, CVD is more common where a person is male, older, has a severe mental illness or ethnicity is South Asian or African Caribbean.

The scale of undetected conditions such as high blood pressure is enormous. The British Heart Foundation estimates that seven million UK citizens have undiagnosed high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease or a stroke.

In July 2024, Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commissioned Lord Darzi to carry out an independent investigation into the NHS in England. The final report of the investigation ('the Darzi report') was published in September 2024. Lord Darzi ultimately concluded that the NHS is in “serious trouble”. Regarding CVD, the report said “care for cardiovascular conditions is going in the wrong direction” and that “rapid access to treatment had deteriorated”.

The NHS Health Check programme commissioned by councils aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. The Government has said it is developing a digital NHS Health Check, which will be ready for testing this year and would enable people to take a health check at home. It is also trialling heart health checks for people in workplaces to improve earlier diagnosis of CVD.

The NHS Health Check offers eligible people between the ages of 40 and 74, advice to help delay or prevent conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and certain types of dementia. 

As the NHS Health Check provides us with a real opportunity to help people take control of their health it’s important we get as many people as possible taking up their offer. You can explore your local NHS Health Check data using the heat map, which provides information on offers and uptake of the checks by region and local authority area.

Many local councils consider NHS Health Check as a core programme within their adult health improvement programmes, since it provides a way of engaging people in early conversations about their health, risk and lifestyle changes. The NHS Health Check also provides an opportunity to identify and refer at-risk people into locally commissioned health improvement and treatment programmes.

Non-communicable disease and disability has the greatest impact on the most deprived communities, so the NHS Health Check provides an opportunity to address entrenched health inequalities.  Many local councils are using the NHS Health Check to target individuals or communities at increased risk by focusing efforts among socio-economically disadvantaged communities and using proactive outreach programmes to get into those communities who are less likely to attend their general practice.

Local councils have also been expanding the range of providers beyond general practice by offering an NHS Health Check in pharmacies, major retailers and the voluntary sector. This helps provide a flexible programme that meets the needs of their local communities. 

Councils have done a tremendous job in inviting over 24 million eligible people to have a Health Check over the last 11 years, of which nearly 11 million have taken up the offer. We must move further and faster.

By working together, individuals and councils can create healthier communities and significantly reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease. Remember, every small step towards a healthier lifestyle counts!

Councillor David Fothergill
Chairman
LGA Community Wellbeing Board