Evaluation of the Southwark NHS Health Check service

How are the public involved in the evaluation?

We have talked with local residents of Southwark who may use the Health Check service to ensure that our plans for the research are acceptable. As a result of their feedback we created a audio version of the participant information sheet, which can be opened via a QR code, to help make the information accessible and engaging to more people. We will share our findings with the local residents and work with them to plan how best to share the findings with the wider community.

We also have recruited a project steering group with two local Southwark residents, a local GP and practice nurse – the steering group will meet with the research team and the Southwark public health team quarterly to check study progress and help with the interpretation of results.

Lay summary of research

The NHS Health Check programme aims to detect early signs of long-term conditions among 40-74 year olds in England. If a person is found to be at high risk of developing a condition, they may be offered support to change their behaviour (e.g., help to quit smoking) or medications to lower their risk. Roughly 25% of adults who are eligible for a Health Check actually attend. Unfortunately, people who do not have a Health Check tend to be those more at risk of developing long-term conditions.
To encourage more people to have a Health Check, Southwark Council have made a digital version that people can complete online using a smartphone, tablet or computer. The digital Health Check (DHC) is going to be trialled in central Southwark in January-March 2023. Approximately 6000 people in this area will be sent invitations to complete the DHC - they will be able to choose to complete it at their GP practice (i.e., a standard Health Check) if they prefer.

Our research objectives are to:

1. Assess the extent to which the DHC is effective at engaging those groups that have not been reached by the standard Health Check
2. Explore to what extent the service overall is effective at encouraging people to take positive health actions and how the Health Check process could be improved
3. Explore whether effectiveness, in terms of encouraging positive health actions, differs among those completing the DHC versus a face-to-face Health Check
4. Explore practice nurses’, healthcare assistants’ and practice managers’ perceptions and experiences of both the standard and digital Health Checks and the impact on GP practices of the addition of DHCs, in terms of clinician and administrative burden
5. Investigate the cost of the DHC as business as usual and assess whether it represents good value.

To do this, we will look at health record and survey data, comparing data for those sent invitations to standard Health Checks with those sent invitations to the DHC. We will also conduct interviews with Southwark residents and GP practice staff. The findings from this project will help Southwark and other councils throughout the UK to improve the Health Check service.