A patient sees a headline about a seven-minute cholesterol test at the pharmacy. They check your website to find out where to go. Will the page help them find a participating service, or accidentally send them somewhere that does not offer it?
Tamsin, our Information Governance Lead, spotted the announcement and suggested we look at what it means for practice communications. It is encouraging news, but the local detail matters more than the headline. Here is what GP practices in England should check before adding it to their website.
What has NHS England announced?
NHS England’s announcement of 31 August 2026 describes a pilot at around 100 pharmacies in England, beginning this autumn and running until spring 2027. Participating pharmacies will offer a finger-prick test that analyses cholesterol in about seven minutes.
The published eligibility is people aged 40 to 84 who are not pregnant and have not had a blood test in the past year. A pharmacist prescriber will discuss the results, offer lifestyle advice and assess whether treatment is needed. Eligible people will also be offered a blood pressure check. The announcement says results will be emailed to the patient.
This is a service at participating pharmacies, not a promise of availability at every pharmacy. The test’s analysis time is not a guarantee that the entire visit, consultation and any waiting time will take seven minutes. Check local arrangements before directing patients.
Why clearer information can help
NHS guidance explains that high cholesterol usually has no symptoms. Testing can identify a problem someone may not know about. Making appropriate local services easier to find can therefore be useful, even for people who feel well.
Your website does not need to interpret results or reproduce clinical advice. It needs to help people understand the available route, check whether it applies to them and know who to contact with questions. Link to NHS information about cholesterol testing for the general health explanation.
Four checks before you publish
- Confirm the local service. Ask your local pharmacy or ICB which sites are participating and when they start. Do not assume the announcement means the nearest pharmacy is ready to offer it.
- Confirm how patients access it. Check opening times, any booking arrangements, eligibility and a reliable contact link. Use information from the participating service rather than filling gaps with assumptions.
- Agree the follow-up wording. Make sure patients know which team will discuss results and what they should do next. An emailed result does not, by itself, prove the result has reached the GP record. Confirm the local information-sharing process.
- Set a review date. Give someone responsibility for checking the notice. Pilot information can become misleading when participating sites or arrangements change.
Do not mix up different services
The pharmacy pilot and the NHS Health Check are not interchangeable. The NHS Health Check is generally offered every five years to eligible people aged 40 to 74 without specified pre-existing conditions. It has its own eligibility and purpose.
General NHS information also notes that some pharmacy cholesterol tests may be chargeable. Avoid a broad claim that all pharmacy tests are free or available under the new pilot. Name the service you have actually confirmed, and link directly to its details.
Keep the website update short and useful
Once local availability is confirmed, a concise news item and a link from your relevant health information page may be enough. Include the participating location, the access route and where to check current details. Avoid copying a national press release into several pages that will later need separate updates.
Publish the practical information as an ordinary web page, with descriptive links and clear language. If a patient cannot use email or online information, make sure the wording directs them to the service to discuss an alternative. Our guide to the Accessible Information Standard explains why individual communication needs matter.
We can help turn the announcement into a useful update
Send our support team the confirmed local details and the wording your practice has approved. We can help make the information clear, easy to find and consistent with the rest of your website. Clinical eligibility and local pathways need to come from the service and your practice; our role is to communicate them well.
A good website update connects a promising national announcement with a service a patient can actually use. That small difference is what makes the page helpful.
Sources checked on 10 September 2026. This article is for practice teams and concerns the England pilot. Confirm current local arrangements before publishing patient-facing information.
