Cholesterol testing pilot

As part of a wider Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Programme, HI NENC delivered pilot programme trialling innovative cholesterol test, PocDoc. The pilot came to an end in June 2024 and is currently undergoing an evaluation.

Aim

The aim of the pilot was to identify people at risk of heart attacks and strokes using an innovative cholesterol test. This allows testing for lipids testing to move out of GP surgeries, dramatically increasing access to testing which in turn aims to prevent more people from developing cardiovascular disease.

Delivery across the North East and North Cumbria

The North East pilot focussed on increasing access to cholesterol testing outside of a traditional GP surgery environment, including at-home, on the high street, workplaces and in other community settings.

High risk patients in deprived communities and those who are less engaged with GP services across the region were a key priority during the pilot.

Benefits

A full evaluation of the pilot project is underway and will be shared later in 2024. The below benefits were anticipated prior to commencing the pilot:

• This pilot offers an opportunity to ease pressure on GPs, keep people out of hospital and increase healthy life expectancy, through easier, accessible and more cost-effective access to cholesterol testing.
• It is also hoped that the pilot delivered cost savings by moving testing from outside of GP surgeries. A health economic evaluation to explore this in detail will be completed as part of this pilot.
• PocDoc will help to provide more accessible testing, removing barriers for those who are less engaged with GP services across the region. Research has shown that one of the challenges of engagement in long term management programmes for people in deprived communities is the need for testing of cholesterol frequently requiring multiple attendances at a healthcare setting. Further, there is evidence that those living in the most deprived areas of England are four times more likely to die early from CVD compared to those living in the least deprived areas.

 

The pilot programme was funded by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) for Healthcare, the System Transformation Fund (STF) and Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP).