'I am 63 but the test says I have the heart of a 76-year-old'

57 minutes ago

Martin EastaughSouth of England

News image — Dave Tutton, 63, took an at-home heart testing kit given to him by his GP surgery

BBC Dave Tutton is sat at a kitchen table with a mug of tea and medical testing kit laid out in front of him. Dave has short dark hair, is wearing glasses and is smiling at the camera. — Dave Tutton, 63, took an at-home heart testing kit given to him by his GP surgery

"It says I have the same risk of a heart attack or stroke as a 76-year-old. That's worrying," said 63-year-old Dave Tutton.

He had visited his GP surgery in Buckinghamshire for an asthma check-up but was also offered an at-home heart testing kit.

The finger-prick tests deliver results in minutes via an app and are being offered to patients at some GP surgeries in the Thames Valley.

Dr Tom Broughton from the Brill surgery said: "We know a lot of cardiovascular disease isn't being picked-up.

"This is a better way of approaching the problem - by actually going out to these patients who we know will likely have a higher risk."

The test provide a cholesterol reading, a body mass index score and heart data, which includes the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke.

Following his results, Tutton was immediately booked-in for an appointment with his doctor.

"That's not good for a 63-year-old to have the heart of a 76-year-old. So the diet starts now," he said.

Dr Tom Broughton is sat in front of a desk in a GP's office. A printer, keyboard and two monitors are on the table behind him. He has dark hair and glasses and is wearing a white shirt. — Dr Tom Broughton said practices were targeting patients who may find it harder to get into a surgery

Unity Health is hoping that by offering the service at its GP surgeries in Brill, Princes Risborough and Long Crendon in Buckinghamshire, as well as Thame and Chinnor in Oxfordshire, it will reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes.

Dr Broughton said: "Dave's an excellent example of the type of case we're trying to pick up."

He said the surgery would help Tutton improve his lifestyle, look at the use of early introduction medications and said there are a "whole host of things that we can do at this stage before there's any diagnosis of heart disease or stroke and make a big difference to Dave".

PocDoc A drop of blood is being squeezed from a pipette onto a PocDoc testing kit. The kit is a small plastic tab with a well in the centre, similar to a covid testing kit. — The kit allows people to carry out tests at home

The NHS said each digital health check could save 20 minutes of doctors' time, which would free up thousands of GP appointments.

"We know how devastating [heart disease] is, not only for the individual but for the families - and then, thinking about this as a societal problem, this takes up a huge amount of resource," Dr Broughton said.

"We have a large farming population and they find it very difficult to access the service, find time to take off from work, to come in for appointments.

"So we know there'll be patients in that community who we should be targeting to try and intervene early," he added.

The British Heart Foundation estimates that someone loses their life to cardiovascular disease every three minutes in the UK.

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