Your Healthier Future
Find out more about Your Healthier Future, our programme to help you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
We want to help local people stay well for longer. We know cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of serious illness in our area, and sadly one of the largest causes of deaths too, so we’ve launched Your Healthier Future – an ambitious prevention programme that will help you reduce your risk of getting cardiovascular disease.
The programme is made possible with Public Health funding from Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, and is being delivered by over fifty local GP practices to people registered with them. On this page you can find out more about Your Healthier Future, and how to take part.
What is cardiovascular disease?
Cardiovascular disease is a collective term for conditions that affect your heart or blood vessels. Examples of cardiovascular disease include:
- Coronary heart disease, where the flow of blood to your heart muscles is blocked or reduced. Coronary heart disease increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure
- Strokes and Transient Ischaemic Attacks or TIAs (also known as a “mini-stroke”)
- Peripheral arterial disease, where there’s a blockage in your arteries to your limbs (usually your legs)
- Aortic disease – a general term for a number of conditions that affects the aorta, the biggest blood vessel in your body which carries blood from the heart to the rest of your body
Who will get invited to take part in Your Healthier Future?
People who are registered with a participating GP practice, and whose health records suggest they may be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, will be invited to take part in Your Healthier Future. If you are identified as someone in this group, you will be sent a text message to ask you to provide some information about your health with your GP practice through a secure system called Eclipse. The data you provide will securely be shared with your GP practice, so that they can offer you the most appropriate support.
What is on offer as part of the programme?
Your Healthier Future is all about giving you the tools and support you need to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Depending on the participating practice you are registered with, as well as your level of risk and other factors, you may be offered:
- A type of medication known as a statin or an alternative tablet – these medicines help to lower the level of a specific type of cholesterol in your blood, called low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. It’s important to have a healthy level of LDL cholesterol, because high levels can lead to your arteries narrowing and hardening.
- Support to manage high blood pressure, with the aim of bringing your blood pressure towards a healthy range. A high blood pressure puts extra strain on your arteries, heart and other organs, so it’s very good for your overall health to bring your blood pressure down if it’s currently high.
- An annual Health Check. During these health checks a health and care professional will measure things such as your height and weight, your cholesterol levels, and your blood pressure. The person you have your appointment with will also discuss your health history and lifestyle with you. Health checks can help you make positive changes for your health by giving you insights into your current wellbeing.
Over 50 GP practices are currently signed up to the programme.
I got a text message inviting me to take part in Your Healthier Future. I want to take part, but I don’t want to share my medical information. What can I do?
Your GP practice will need information about your health because this helps them ensure that they offer you the right type of support to manage your risk of cardiovascular disease. The online form you have been texted is managed safely and securely by Eclipse, a secure patient data platform that is in use by the NHS in many areas of the country.
If you are uncomfortable filling in the online form, or if you cannot access it, but do want to share the information with your GP practice, you can choose to speak to your GP practice directly to update your records.
Unfortunately you cannot be enrolled in Your Healthier Future if you are not willing to share some information about your health with your GP practice, because we need to make sure that what you are offered is safe and appropriate for your personal circumstances.
My GP practice has told me they’re not signed up to Your Healthier Future. Can I still take part?
We are not currently able to enrol people in Your Healthier Future whose GP practice is not signed up. If you are worried about your risk of cardiovascular disease and are registered with a GP practice that isn’t signed up to the programme, there are still things you can do to help manage your risk.
A great place to start is the NHS Better Health website, which offers tools and support to help you maintain a healthy weight, quit smoking if you’re a smoker, get more active, and reduce your alcohol consumption if you drink.
Will Your Healthier Future completely remove my risk of getting cardiovascular disease?
Whilst taking part in Your Healthier Future could help you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, it is not possible to completely remove anyone’s risk of getting CVD. Some factors that affect your risk are things that are outside your control, such as your sex, family history, ethnic background and age.
Making positive changes in those factors that you can influence, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, exercise and weight, is one of the best things you can do for your health. CVD is a large cause of deaths in our area, causing around 25% of all local deaths, so by making positive changes in those areas of your health that you can influence, you can reduce your risk of getting CVD and developing serious illness.