20/08/2013

Leading GP Condemns Health MOTs

The UK's leading GP has condemned health checks carried out on millions of people over the age of 40, as a waste of time.

The NHS Health Check is being promoted by the government "against good evidence", Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, has said.

Currently in England, every person aged between 40 and 74 are offered a free health check, however, researchers in Denmark have claimed that health MOTs did not reduce deaths.

Dr Gerada made her comments about the health checks following the publication of a letter by the Nordic Cochrane Centre in the Times newspaper, which criticised the programme.

Dr Gerada said that the health checks failed to benefit patients and could instead be causing unnecessary stress. She went on to claim that the checks were being promoted "against good evidence" and had "no proven benefit".

(MH/JP)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

29 September 2006
Mental health services 'failing' patients
People with mental health problems are being failed due to poor access to key community services. a Healthcare Commission report has said.
01 April 2008
NHS Reforms To Boost Health Checks For Over 40's
Health checks for the over 40s are to be implemented under a set of reforms within the National Health Service. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's promise of a "more personalised" NHS will be one step closer to reality as screenings for heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and stroke will become readily available for the 40-74 demographic.
04 August 2003
Tories demand health checks for asylum seekers
The Tories have added more fuel to the immigration debate and called for compulsory health checks for all asylum applicants at point of entry – so as to reduce the likelihood of diseases entering the UK.
04 June 2007
Report reveals scale of mental ill health at work
A report has revealed that mental ill health is the second largest cause of time lost due to sickness absence in UK organizations. According to the report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, stress, depression, and anxiety account for over 50% of these mental health problems.
28 May 2014
More People Accept NHS Health Check
More people than ever before are accepting the offer to attend an NHS Health Check according to new figures from Public Health England (PHE). The figures, published today, show that in the last year over 1.