Scottish pharmacies should conduct routine cardiovascular health checks following the success of a pilot scheme to identify at-risk patients, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) has said.

The Keep Well pilot, which saw pharmacies conduct health checks across seven boards in Scotland, identified "a significant minority of participants with either significant cardiovascular disease risk factors or high blood pressure", CPS announced.

Pharmacies should now build on this success by implementing routine health checks for the new NHS ‘Life begins at 40' service, the negotiating organisation for Scottish contractors added.

The service invites patients who are turning 40 to take a self-assessment questionnaire, which is used to provide patients with tailored health information. And pharmacy would be a "positive location" to implement follow-up health checks for patients, said CPS.

"There is no doubt that the enormous ease of access offered by the network of community pharmacies was viewed as a major advantage [in the Keep Well pilot]," said Harry McQuillan, CEO of CPS. "We believe this is further evidence that Scotland's network of 1,232 community pharmacies provides a very valuable and accessible front-line presence for the modern NHS, in particular given the drive for greater and earlier health interventions aimed at prevention and early detection."

Read the full evaluation of the Keep Well pilot project.