Free every five years from 40 to 74 in England. Covers much of what a paid panel does, and fewer than half of those invited take it up.
NHS screening is free — this page explains it, we do not sell it
Honest about who benefits and who may be harmed
A GP to talk through a result, a recall or a missed invitation
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Talk it through with a GP
Screening itself is free on the NHS. If you want a result explained, have been recalled, or missed an invitation and are not sure what to do, a 20-minute appointment with a GMC-registered GP is £40. Same-day appointments are usually available, 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
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Adults in England aged 40 to 74, once every five years, who do not already have one of the conditions the check is designed to find.
You are not invited if you already have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure being treated, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, a previous stroke or TIA, or familial hypercholesterolaemia.
That is not an oversight. If you have any of those, you should already be having annual reviews that cover the same ground and more — and being told your risk of developing a condition you already have would be meaningless.
This is an England programme. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own, differently structured arrangements, and the equivalent may be offered through your GP rather than as a named national programme.
If you are in Wales, ask your practice what is available locally rather than looking for an "NHS Health Check" by that name.
Usually a letter from your GP practice, though in some areas it is delivered by pharmacies, community providers or in leisure centres.
You can also ask. If you are in the age range, have not been invited, and think you are due, ring your practice — invitation systems are imperfect and asking often works.
Provision has become uneven. Some areas have reduced or paused the programme, and uptake varies widely. If your practice says it is not currently offering them, that is a local commissioning position rather than you being ineligible.
Twenty to thirty minutes, usually with a nurse or healthcare assistant.
A cardiovascular risk score — usually QRISK — estimating your chance of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years, and a conversation about what to do with it.
Depending on the results, that might mean:
A digital version and postal cholesterol testing are being introduced in some areas, which removes the appointment barrier for people who cannot easily get to a surgery in working hours. Worth asking whether it is available locally.
The conditions this check looks for are all silent, all common, and all treatable.
Blood pressure is the single most valuable measurement here, and it is one we cannot take remotely. Finding and treating it prevents strokes in people who would otherwise have had no warning at all.
That one measurement justifies the appointment even if everything else is normal.
This is where we have to be careful, because the evidence is genuinely more mixed than for the cancer screening programmes.
Systematic reviews of general health checks in adults have not shown a reduction in overall mortality or cardiovascular mortality. That finding is well established and it applies to the broad "health MOT" concept.
We say the same thing on our own paid screening pages, and it would be inconsistent to suppress it here.
It is better than a general health check, weaker than the cancer screening programmes, and free.
Its value depends almost entirely on what happens afterwards — whether the blood pressure gets treated, whether the prevention programme referral is taken up. A risk score that changes nothing is worth nothing.
Reviewed against UK Health Security Agency, NHS England Health Check programme guidance and NICE guidance current at the date shown above.
Fewer than half of invited people take it up — consistently the lowest uptake of any programme on this list.
You are entitled to ask for the numbers rather than only the advice. Your actual blood pressure reading, your actual cholesterol figures, and your actual QRISK score are yours, and they are more useful than a leaflet.
The individual components are still available. You can:
This is a check for people who feel well. If you have chest pain, breathlessness on exertion, palpitations, or any symptom that concerns you, that needs assessing now rather than at a routine check.
Chest pain with sweating, nausea, or pain spreading to the arm or jaw is 999, immediately.
It is not a full health MOT, and calling it one sets the wrong expectation. It does not check for:
Age drives QRISK more than anything else you can change. A man of 70 with entirely normal cholesterol and blood pressure will often exceed the 10% threshold purely on age.
That is worth understanding before a statin conversation, because "your risk is over 10%" can sound like something is wrong when it may simply mean you are 70.
It is free, it is brief, and it finds treatable silent conditions in a meaningful number of people. The evidence that it saves lives at population level is weaker than for bowel or cervical screening, and we would rather say so.
Our honest advice: take it, ask for your actual numbers, and act on the blood pressure.
Yes, largely because of blood pressure. It is free, brief, and finds silent, treatable conditions.
The evidence that general health checks reduce deaths is weak, and we will not pretend otherwise — but a stroke prevented by treating hypertension found at 45 is a real benefit.
Either you are outside 40 to 74, you already have a condition that excludes you, or the invitation system has missed you.
Ring your practice and ask — the third of those is common.
Because you should already be having annual reviews that cover the same ground and more.
If you are not getting those reviews, that is the thing to chase — they are more thorough than this check.
It covers much of the same ground for the things that matter most — blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes risk, weight.
A private panel adds more blood markers, which sounds like more but does not necessarily mean better. It also cannot measure your blood pressure if it is done remotely.
No. It is an offer and a conversation, not an instruction.
Bear in mind that age drives the score heavily — a 70-year-old with perfect numbers often crosses 10% on age alone. That context matters before deciding.
The blood pressure reading. High blood pressure is common, entirely silent, and one of the most treatable causes of stroke.
If you do nothing else, get your blood pressure checked — free at many pharmacies, no appointment, five minutes.
No, not at all. It is a cardiovascular and metabolic risk check.
Cancer screening is entirely separate — bowel, breast and cervical programmes, each with their own invitations.
The NHS Health Check is an England programme. The other UK nations have their own, differently structured arrangements.
Ask your GP practice what is offered locally rather than looking for this by name.
Your cardiovascular risk looked acceptable on that day. That is genuinely useful and it is not a clean bill of health.
It says nothing about cancer, thyroid, bones or anything else, and a new symptom next month still needs assessing on its own merits.
Get the individual pieces. A free pharmacy blood pressure check is the highest-value part and needs no appointment.
Ask your GP for cholesterol and HbA1c if you have risk factors, and consider a home blood pressure monitor — cheaper than a private panel and more informative.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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