Around 100 high street pharmacies in England will start offering free seven-minute cholesterol checks this autumn, NHS England announced on 31 August 2026. The walk-in service is open to people aged 40 to 84 who are not pregnant and who have not had a blood test in the past year. A finger-prick sample is analysed on site to produce a cholesterol profile, and a pharmacist prescriber then holds a clinical consultation, offers a blood pressure check, and decides whether any treatment is needed. Results are sent to the patient by email. NHS England says the pilot runs until spring 2027 and sits inside a wider effort to cut deaths from heart disease and stroke by a quarter over the next decade. Health services are devolved, so this scheme covers England only; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own arrangements for cholesterol testing in community pharmacy.
What the north London pilot found
The national scheme follows a smaller pilot in north London run by Barts Health NHS Trust with UCLPartners and the charity HEART UK. Between January 2025 and March 2026 it tested 2,493 patients at 61 community pharmacies, according to NHS England. NHS England says 19 per cent were found suitable for pharmacological intervention, a similar proportion to the one in five it reports as being at high risk of a heart attack or stroke over the following 10 years, and 88 people were started on statins. Those are figures from one urban area with its own demographic mix rather than a national estimate, and NHS England has not published a peer-reviewed evaluation alongside the announcement. David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, said: "Your local pharmacy can be a vital first line of defence against serious illness."
What this means for you
Raised cholesterol produces no symptoms, which is the reason the NHS is moving the test to places people already walk past. The practical change is that the first step no longer needs a booked GP appointment, and it costs nothing at the point of use. Nothing bought over the counter is part of this programme, and no food supplement is a cholesterol test or a substitute for one; what happens after the check is a matter for the pharmacist prescriber, not for a product. The health spending a household actually controls is the recurring monthly kind, which is what Perqen's membership pricing is built around.
How Perqen members save
Perqen membership costs £4.99 a month or £29.99 a year and unlocks member pricing across the whole catalogue, while non-members can still buy at standard prices. How member pricing works is set out in full on our FAQs page.
This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.