Dear Public Health England/Scotland/my GP

Thank you for inviting me for an NHS Health Check.

Your invitation letter says that this is “helping you prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease.”

However, there is no randomised controlled evidence that this is the case.

There is evidence that population screening like this results in overtreatment and overdiagnosis.

You have provided me with no data on which to make an informed choice based on the best evidence available.

I also understand that the NHS is going to look at the data generated by the Health Checks and then decide whether they are a good idea or not.

It seems that I am being invited into an uncontrolled experiment without being given clear information about the benefits and harms. This is the wrong way to generate scientifically reliable data.

In order to protect my health, I am only willing to take part in a Health Check if I am invited as part of a fair, randomised controlled trial with ethical committee approval; if I receive evidence based information allowing me to make an informed choice, and if the results will be fully published and independently analysed.

Additionally, it appears that my GP is inviting me for a Health Check; in fact my GP did not send this letter. I consider this to be a distortion of the facts.

Yours sincerely

3 Responses to “Dear Public Health England/Scotland/my GP”

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