NHS Health Check National Learning Network Eighth Workshop
Delegates listening to Professor Roger Boyle at the event
More than 130 delegates attended the eighth NHS Health Check National Learning Network Workshop on 21st July.
Professor R. Boyle, National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke, opened the day with an update from DH. He confirmed it was business as usual for the NHS Health Check programme – it remained in the Operating Framework as a Tier 3 Vital Sign and was subject of discussions in the Spending Review which will report in the Autumn.
Professor Boyle also updated delegates on the coalition's emerging agenda for health. The emphasis was moving the NHS away from a target based approach to one focussed on outcomes. The Outcomes Framework, published earlier in the week and the subject of consultation, is likely to focus on key areas of improvement, all underpinned by the three domains of quality – effectiveness, safety and patient experience. One of the key outcome areas proposed in the consultation is preventing people from dying prematurely and under this it was likely to include CHD and Stroke. A key element of delivering this outcome will be the NHS Health Check programme.
Four workshops were held on the day, giving delegates the option to explore aspects of the NHS Health Check programme in more depth.
The presentations from the Eighth Workshop are available at:
http://www.improvement.nhs.uk/NHSHealthCheck/TheLearningNetwork/tabid/55/Default.aspx
Social Marketing
Delegates at the network event were given an insight into what social marketing involves, the techniques that can be used and how it can help them deliver NHS Health Checks to their population.
Intensive Lifestyle Intervention for pre-diabetic hyperglycaemia
Dr Tom Yates (University of Leicester) spoke about the importance of intensive lifestyle management as part of the NHS Health Check, highlighting that 80 to 90% of Type 2 diabetes was preventable through lifestyle changes (Gillies et al., 2007, BMJ). The group were introduced 
to the ‘Walking Away From Diabetes’ programme, a three hour structured education programme focusing on increasing cardio-respiratory fitness, rather than the traditional focus of weight loss. Bernie Stribling (National Operations Manager, DESMOND) asked the workshop participants to think about what would be needed to introduce a structured education programme within their Primary Care Trusts.
NHS Health Check Dataset
Mark McDaid (NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care) gave an overview of the NHS Health Check dataset, providing participants with the latest version of the dataset. They were encouraged to participate in the consultation on the dataset by considering questions such as whether the proposed dataset was feasible for their PCT to collect, and should any further data items be added?
Vital Signs Returns
The session focused on data reporting for the vital sign, with an emphasis on how to establish the eligible population. Ian Sandford (NHS Islington) and Jamie Waterall (NHS Birmingham East and North) outlined the different approaches adopted by their Trusts. DH was asked to produce a list of READ codes for the exclusions to the programme and it is exploring this further.