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LGA: Digital Health Check ‘not a replacement’ to in-person appointments

Making more digital health checks available is a useful tool to detect certain illnesses but it should be treated as an addition to not a replacement of a physical health check

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Responding to a government announcement that there will be a rollout of over one million digital Health Checks, Cllr David Baines, Vice-Chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board said:



“Free Health Checks, commissioned by councils as part of their public health responsibilities, help relieve pressures on our NHS and care system, save lives and prevent people from developing life-threatening conditions.

“Making more digital health checks available is a useful tool to detect certain illnesses but it should be treated as an addition to not a replacement of a physical health check, which is still the best way to provide early detection of ill health.



“Councils have done a tremendous job in inviting nearly 23.5 million eligible people to have a Health Check over the last 10 years, of which nearly 11 million have taken up the offer.”