PocDoc’s Plan to Bridge the Health Inequality Gap

Authored by: Dr Matthew Lee; BMSc, MBBS, MSc

Last reviewed: Sept 2024.

What's in this PocDoc Article:

• Cardiovascular disease disproportionately affects areas of high deprivation
• PocDoc’s layered approach to tackling healthcare inequalities
• Know, Prevent, and Connect: PocDoc uses Population Health Management Principles
• PocDoc provides easy access to primary prevention
• A look into the Lincolnshire Co-op Pharmacy and PocDoc Healthy Heart Pilot Screening

Cardiovascular disease disproportionately affects areas of high deprivation

Cardiovascular disease is known to be a silent killer across the UK. However, research has shown that CVD disproportionately affects areas of high deprivation, with statistics painting an alarming picture.

According to the British Heart Foundation, individuals living in disadvantaged areas were “twice as likely to die before the age of 75, due to cardiovascular conditions” than those in least deprived areas.

In response to this growing concern, PocDoc has committed to making healthcare more accessible, especially in disadvantaged areas.

PocDoc’s layered approach to tackling healthcare inequalities

PocDoc’s approach involves the use of the NHS’s Core20PLUS5 plan. As discussed in our previous article, the Core20PLUS5 plan has been implemented to help reduce healthcare inequalities by targeting the most deprived communities in the population as well as groups that have trouble accessing proper healthcare services.

Using these principles, PocDoc has brought access to proper health screenings to vulnerable communities by partnering with community pharmacies, churches and football clubs. These local institutions can increase the accessibility of the screening services to reach those who are most at risk.

In addition to the Core20PLUS5 plan, PocDoc also uses Population Health Management principles when considering how to bridge the healthcare gap in disadvantaged areas.

Know, Prevent, and Connect: PocDoc uses Population Health Management Principles

PocDoc uses population health management principles, which are supported by NHS England. The principles are based on 3 main pillars:

• Know- Integrated care systems should share data and insights gathered to accelerate prevention and address the root cause. This data will help give personalised care to specific groups based on their needs.

• Connect- Instead of competition, this principle promotes collaborations within multi-disciplinary teams to create the best offering that responds to what matters most to people.

• Prevent- A special focus on proactive preventive care to delay future ill health and inequalities.

With these principles, PocDoc aims to improve care by strategising local populations based on identified needs, calculating risk, and designing proactive, personalised, and preventative care models to address the specific needs of the individuals.

PocDoc provides easy access to primary prevention

With over 6,120 health checks conducted in the last 6 months, PocDoc has been able to identify over 3000 individuals who had high-risk factors for CVD. With PocDoc, these individuals received their:

• Complete cholesterol profile panel
• Healthy heart age
• 10-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke
• Access to clinician support with lifestyle recommendations

A look into the Lincolnshire Co-op Pharmacy and PocDoc Healthy Heart Pilot Screening

According to Community Pharmacy England, community pharmacies are within a 20-minute reach for 99% of individuals in disadvantaged areas, making them the perfect place to reach at-risk individuals and reduce the health inequality gap.

As such, PocDoc has teamed up with the Lincolnshire Co-op Pharmacy to bring more accessible health checks across Lincolnshire. The data collected from the screening showed that:

• 52% of people who Lincolnshire Co-Op Pharmacy screened haven’t had a cholesterol screening in the last 5 years.
• 33% of people screened had high cholesterol levels outside of the NHS’s recommended range.
• 63% of those screened were overweight/obese.
• 25% had a QRISK score above 10%, making them at high risk of developing CVD.

These individuals were then given access to the proper support and care they needed to help lower their chances of CVD and improve their quality of life.

The impact of this pilot screening on Lincolnshire proves that with easy and convenient health checks with PocDoc can help reduce the health inequality gap and allow at-risk individuals to receive the critical care they need.