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Pharmacies to offer heart checkups in new NHS England Scheme

Heart checkups are to be offered at 320 high street pharmacies under new plans from NHS England, as part of a programme which seeks to prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes over the next decade.

General practices will also join the fight against common conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease in a plan launched last month, working in specialist teams with pharmacists. Successful pilots of the measures reduced strokes by a quarter.

From October, more than 320 community pharmacies across England will begin to test an early detection service to try to identify people with undiagnosed high-risk conditions.

Pharmacists will actively offer blood pressure tests to people showing symptoms of that condition and will also offer cholesterol tests. Electrocardiograms will be available to detect irregular heartbeats.