Betraying the NHS: Health Abandoned

NHS Health Checks

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. In England, the government has adopted a population-wide prevention program for cardiovascular disease, the NHS Health Check program. The program has sparked controversies over the evidence base and feasibility of implementation. We aim to provide an update on the debate and program implementation. In conclusion, ...

Occupational health in the new NHS.

Editorial Occupational Health in the new NHS Occupational health services in the National Health Services (NHS) came late and still vary from district to district both in quantity and quality of service. From small beginnings, the provision of occupational health services has expanded and now every health district either has its own service or has hospitals within it with services oftheir own. ...

Where's the evidence for NHS health checks?

Back in January 2008, the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, announced “everyone in England will have access to the right preventative health check-up . . . there will soon be check-ups on offer to monitor for heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and kidney disease.” Brown went further, pledging a national screening committee, an independent clinical body, that “will look at the evidence and advis...

NHS Health Check betrays the ethos of public health.

NHS Choices has gone to town on the NHS Health Check project. New web pages aim to encourage people to use this “sophisticated check of your heart health.” Through blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index being “properly checked,” they say that strokes, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and some forms of dementia can “often be prevented.” Helping people to stop smoking, increasin...

Macroeconomic Forecasts: Betraying Us When Most Needed