"NHS Health Checks are a vital first line of defence against more serious, chronic illnesses, and so it’s disappointing that uptake remains low despite efforts to invite more people."
- Emily Jones, Client Consulting Director at Broadstone
Broadstone’s analysis found that 3.6mn people in the UK were invited to attend NHS Health Checks in 2023-24 but less than half (1.4mn) attended an appointment. This means over 2mn people didn’t receive their NHS Health Check despite an invitation. Notably, this figure is 19% (347,628) higher than in 2022-23.
A decade ago, 49% of 2.8mn invitees attended NHS Health Checks. Since then, attendance has dropped by 9% between 2013-14 and 2023-24. On a weekly basis, that’s an average of 41,080 people missing out on their NHS Health Check in 2023-24 compared to 27,630 each week in 2013-14.
NHS Health Checks provide free general health assessments which should be offered by GP surgeries or local council every five years to those aged 40-74 with no pre-existing health conditions.
“NHS Health Checks are a vital first line of defence against more serious, chronic illnesses, and so it’s disappointing that uptake remains low despite efforts to invite more people. Prevention is better than cure, and NHS Health Checks offer the opportunity to identify health issues at an early stage thereby keeping people healthy, active, and productive,” explained Emily Jones, Client Consulting Director at Broadstone.
She said: “By catching chronic conditions early on, people can make lifestyle adjustments like exercising more frequently or changing their diet to improve their health. The decline in uptake could be down to time constraints, challenges in contacting or accessing the local GP practice, anxieties around what may be identified or simply a lack of awareness about the long-term health benefits of attendance.”
These findings follow concerning data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in April 2024 which revealed 9.7mn (21% of all adults in the UK) are currently waiting for a hospital appointment, test, or to begin medical treatment via the NHS.
“With 21% of adults in the UK waiting to access healthcare, it highlights the huge problems for businesses when it comes to supporting the health of their employees and reducing sickness absence – an increasingly important C-suite issue,” said Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at Broadstone.
READ MORE: 21% of all adults in the UK are waiting for medical care
“This increase in economic inactivity due to chronic sickness that we have seen over the past few years as the accessibility of the NHS healthcare declines underscores just how important regular health screenings are,” Emily concluded.
