18 June 2010 - Get on the bus for an NHS health check

NHS Hastings and Rother is working in partnership with Pfizer Limited to offer people in Hastings & Rother a free health check on a specially designed bus.

The NHS Health Check bus will be travelling to 9 locations throughout the area between 23 June – 17 July 2010 (see below for further details) and aims to bring essential health screening services to local people.

The bus will offer screening to people who wouldn’t normally go to their GP for a check-up and will screen for conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and stroke.

The NHS Health Checks are available to adults aged between 40 and 74, and are provided by trained nurses who will ask questions about the patient’s lifestyle, record their height, weight, blood pressure, pulse rate and conduct a simple blood test to check cholesterol levels.

Information and support for maintaining a healthy lifestyle will also be available to adults of any age.

Dr Diana Grice, Director of Public Health for NHS Hastings and Rother said: “The NHS Health Check bus is a great way of offering people a really important service at a time and place more convenient to them. It is vital that people get themselves checked out, either by our team or their GP, to make sure that any health problems or issues can be tackled as soon as possible."

Hayley Martin, a Health Development Manager from the local NHS, says: “The screening offered on the bus will help people to understand what the risk is of them developing certain conditions and encourage anyone who is found to be at higher risk to visit their GP for further advice or treatment where necessary.

"Personalised advice will be available to everyone on how to lower their risk and maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

A recent report found that approximately 15% of adults in the Hastings area have high blood pressure and around 30% are smokers, placing the population at high risk of developing heart disease and diabetes among other health concerns in the future.

Nicky Beardmore, Regional Account Director for Pfizer in the South East said: “The NHS Health Check Screening bus is a good example of collaborative working between industry and the local NHS in order to impact the long-term health of the people in the Hastings and Rother community.”