Health Checks provided by
Frequently Asked Questions - What you need to know
Healthy Hounslow is packed with guidance and advice on how to live healthier, but here we have provided answers to some frequently asked questions. Please let us know if there is a question that you need answered that isn’t listed below.
There are many ways to “improve” your test results from a health check depending on what has been found from that health check.
- Losing Weight
- Reducing your BMI can help with many red flags that may come up in a Health Check. Not only will reducing your weight help your joints, it will also reduce the stress on your heart and lower your blood pressure. Please see our FREE weight support groups that can help you with this.
- Reducing blood pressure
- Cutting down on salt (to 6g a day), and caffeine, losing weight, becoming more active and reducing alcohol intake.
- Your cholesterol
- If your cholesterol test shows results outside the healthy range, your health professional will provide advice to help lower your cholesterol through dietary changes. You may also want to contact your GP about available medications for this issue.
As part of your Health Check, you will be given a physical activity score. There is an increasing amount of evidence to suggest that increasing your physical activity levels can reduce your chance of developing conditions such as high blood pressure and dementia!
It is recommended that everyone does at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week. This does not have to be in one go! This can be spaced out through a week, please see the following link for suggestions of what to do.
Cutting back on drinking. Men and women are not advised to drink more than 14 units a week. Which is roughly equivalent to 6 pints of beer, or 6 glasses of wine. For more information about how to cut down please see the Drink Aware website, or if you are looking for support with alcohol then visit the Turning Point website.
Quitting smoking. The one thing that may have come up during your health check is smoking. We are here to support you to quit via a one-to-one consultation with a consultant or via groups.
A Primary Care Network (PCN) is a group of GP surgeries working together to focus on local patient care. Hounslow is a diverse outer London Borough of approximately 320,000 registered patients supported by 46 GP Practices. In Hounslow, GP Practices are organised into five Primary Care Networks: Brentworth, Chiswick, Feltham & Bedfont, Hounslow Health and Great West Road.
By working as part of a PCN, your GP surgery can offer you more services by sharing resources and employing more staff. Your PCN’s medical and non-medical team work together with your GP surgery to give you better access to healthcare and support. PCNs also work closely with other health and social care services to offer more personalised care.
Your named GP oversees your overall care, but specialised health practitioners in the PCN can address specific health issues, potentially leading to quicker access to specialist care. This approach also enhances GP availability for those in need, and the PCN team can assist in avoiding unnecessary hospital visits or stays. To learn more about PCNs, watch this video from NHS England.
The NHS Health Check is a free check-up that takes about 30 minutes. It can tell you whether you’re at higher risk of getting certain long-term medical conditions, such as:
Diabetes Heart Disease Kidney Disease Stroke
If you’re over 65, you will also be told about the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for. If you’re aged 40-74 and you haven’t had a stroke, or you don’t already have heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, you should have an NHS Health Check every five years.
To learn more about what happens at an NHS Health Check, click here.
No, you can continue to eat as normal before your health check. However please avoid any alcohol before your appointment and avoid an excessive amount of drinking.
