Tends of thousands of people in Yorkshire are missing out on flagship NHS health checks amid concerns over the future of the initiative designed to detect a host of major illnesses.
Figures reveal huge disparities in access to the checks for conditions including diabetes, heart disease and kidney problems which are due to be offered to 1.5 million people aged 40-74 in the region in a rolling five-year programme.
Only 150,000 people across Yorkshire were offered the checks in 2011-12, half the number due to be targeted, with none receiving invitations in the East Riding or Sheffield compared to 27,000 in the Wakefield district.
Overall nearly 88,000 tests were carried out, but take-up rates varied considerably. Latest figures show numbers of checks in the six months to September are significantly below target.
In Yorkshire, thousands of patients have been referred for further tests for suspected health problems following checks.
Nearly 10,000 were carried out on people in the Wakefield district in 2011-12, triggering more than 6,000 tests or referrals for advice over kidney and heart problems, diabetes, smoking, alcohol abuse and weight problems.
More than 5,000 further referrals in Leeds were made for heart and circulatory disorders, smoking, weight problems and kidney disease,
But there are concerns about the future of the programme as responsibilities for its implementation are handed to local councils under the Government’s controversial NHS reforms.
Leeds family doctor Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said provision was “patchy” due to the piecemeal introduction of the checks.
There were also doubts about whether the venture was useful and cost-effective.
He said: “It’s difficult at the moment with so much change in the health service to know whether local authorities have got the people in place to take on the commissioning of these services and others and that is causing practices concern.”
The 20-30 minute free checks are designed to identify people at risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney problems and diabetes.
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