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On 9 November 2006, the Scottish Executive (SE) launched a radical preventative care programme (Keep well) in North Lanarkshire. Targeted at communities with the greatest health needs, the first Keep Well pilot will assess 45-64 year olds in Airdrie, Coatbridge and Wishaw for the risk factors associated with heart disease. The pilot will involve 34 GP practices, and has around 40,000 people in the target group. The Programme will link to a range of providers such as smoking cessation services, dieticians and the Counterweight obesity management service.
NHS Lanarkshire will target relevant patients principally by identifying, through the GP registers, those who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes and by making an assessment of those who are high risk for cardio-vascular disease (CVD) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Other pilots are to be located in Glasgow (North and East), Dundee, and
Edinburgh, and are scheduled to start inviting people in for health checks
in the next 2-3 months. The location of the pilots was decided by using
the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and focusing on NHS Board areas
with high concentrations of the most deprived 15 per cent. A decision about
location and funding for a second wave of pilots is expected to be made
later this year.
Health Scotland have commissioned national evaluation through the Primary
Care Department of Glasgow University.
A press summary can be viewed on the SE website