New figures show rising take-up of NHS Health Check

New data from Public Health England has shown that the NHS Health Check is becoming more popular and widely-used than ever before.

During 2013-14, 1.3 million people have accepted the offer of an NHS Health Check, which are used to identify those at risk of serious but potentially avoidable conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

This represented a 9.5 percent increase compared to the previous year. A total of 2.8 million people across all 152 local authorities in England were offered the check, meaning the number of offers and acceptances were both the highest level since the programme started in April 2009.

Public health minister Jane Ellison said: "These checks have a major part to play in early prevention of disease, and are an important step for many people towards improving their health."

Estimates carried out when the programme was launched in 2009 suggested NHS Health Checks could prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes, at least 650 premature deaths and more than 4,000 new cases of diabetes each year.

They are described to patients as "free midlife MOTs" and are offered to people between the ages of 40 and 74.