New test-kits find that one in five Essex people could have cardiovascular disease
PocDoc is available in over half of Essex Community Pharmacies
A new testing kit that has been rolled out across Essex pharmacies has found worrying statistic for our heart health.
Their findings suggest that a fifth of people have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and nearly half have a heart age older than their actual age.
PocDoc has integrated its Healthy Heart Check into over 50% of pharmacies across the county in six months.
It uses a simple finger-prick method, to deliver a blood test that tells a patient their full cholesterol and diabetes profile, alongside their BMI, heart age, and a ten year risk score for heart attacks and strokes.
Each digital health check could save 20 minutes of a GP's time, and early detection can prevent up to 80% of cardiovascular disease cases.
Steve Roest, CEO of PocDoc, told us that it can risk assess people in just minutes, compared to vastly longer times delivered by the current healthcare system.
"Our healthy heart check is available through the NHS, but also through high street retailers.
"Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in Britain, and it costs the NHS more money than anything else. But thankfully it is up to 80% preventable, but only if people get tested.
"We couldn't be more thrilled with how fantastic Community Pharmacy in Essex is. Everyone over there is at the very forefront of how to drive the role of pharmacies in communities forwards.
"PocDoc started in the NHS, we were incubated in the NHS, and we have grown in the NHS, so we firmly believe in the role of pharmacies in communities, in neigbourhoods, in playing as much of a role as possible.
"The NHS has never been under more pressure,
"But the NHS can get ahead of cardiovascular disease and other issues, get people treated, and take cost out of the future. I.E. Lets help people get healthier now. so that wedon't have heart attacks and strokes in 10 or 20 years time.
"I can speak from a personal perspective on this, because when I was 14, and my dad was the exact same age I am now, he had a huge stroke. A catastrophic stroke, due to undiagnosed cardiovascular disease and that was absolutely devastating for our family."
Steve thanked the help of pharmacies in Essex for adopting PocDoc, and encouraged patients to get themselves checked.