Help design a digital version of the Vital 5 check
We’re exploring what people across South East London think about the Vital 5 Check, including whether a digital option could work alongside existing face‑to‑face and kiosk checks. We’re creating a digital version of the Vital 5 Check to make it easier for people to look after their health, and we’d like your help to design it.
If you’d like to get involved, this page explains what the Vital 5 Check is, why we’re developing a digital version, and how you can take part.
What is the Vital 5 Check?
You or someone you know may have already had a Vital 5 Check. It’s a free, easy to access health check delivered by NHS-approved practitioners in selected pharmacies and other venues across south east London.
In around 5-30 minutes, the check helps you get a picture of how healthy you are by looking at five important areas for your health and wellbeing - known as the Vital 5:
At the end, you get your own Vital 5 passport which gives you a good indication of your overall health and what you can do to improve it. You’ll get practical tips to try, and information about where to find support if you’d like help with any of your Vital 5.
If we tackle these five areas together, we can improve health for everyone and help make sure no one is left behind. That's why we're now developing a digital version of the Vital 5 Check.
Why a digital version?
The digital Vital 5 Check will be available alongside in-person checks and will mean more people can complete a check wherever they are and at a time that suits them.
It will also help us better connect information about people's health across NHS services and teams. This can give us a clearer picture of what local communities need, so we can plan and provide the right care and support.
How you can get involved?
Please take a few moments to fill in this short survey to help us understand your views around Vital 5 Check and developing a digital version.
We want to hear from you to make sure the digital Vital 5 Check works for everyone. By sharing your views, you’ll help us design a service that really works for you, your friends, your family and your community.
Thank you to everyone who put themselves forward to help shape the digital Vital 5 check. We have had some one to one conversations with you and will be a running another round later in June and July 2026.
Next steps
Your feedback and recommendations will help us to design a digital service that works well for everyone. We’ll also be speaking with health and care professionals to make sure the service works in practice. Once we’ve gathered enough insight, we will:
- design and test a prototype digital Vital 5 Check
- test it with residents and staff
- improve it based on feedback
- scale it up so more people can try it
- roll out a final version more widely
Emerging findings
The team has looked at how Vital 5 health checks are delivered in pharmacies and across different community settings, and how digital services could enhance future delivery, as well as carried out some one to one conversations with local people.
This discovery work included watching checks in pharmacies and community venues, engaging with residents and frontline staff, and reviewing existing evidence and service data. This approach has deepened their understanding of the opportunities and challenges in delivering preventative health services locally.
A key finding is the importance of trusted human interaction. Staff and community ambassadors are essential in encouraging participation, explaining results, and guiding individuals on steps to improve their health. Blood pressure checks, in particular, effectively engage residents and initiate broader conversations about prevention.
The engagement has identified opportunities to improve how services operate. Current delivery often relies on paper-based processes, manual referrals, and follow-up actions that require residents to take the next step. Staff consistently noted that digital tools could reduce administrative tasks, enhance data capture, support referrals, and make it easier for people to access and understand their results.
We looked at the experiences of individuals facing barriers to healthcare and health inequities influenced by socioeconomic challenges. Ensuring future services are accessible and inclusive remains a key priority.
As the team enters the next phase, they will test how digital and face-to-face services can work together to support prevention more effectively. The aim is to maintain trusted relationships while enabling staff to focus more on supporting people and less on administrative tasks through technology.
By combining community-based delivery with well-designed digital support, we aim to improve access, strengthen follow-up, and empower more people to take action for their health and well-being.
