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Darren Jones MP sees heart care innovation brought closer to home

9 January 2026
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister visited the Lansbury Pharmacy in Poplar to see how our pioneering cholesterol testing programme with Barts Health NHS Trust is bringing cardiac care closer to home across north east London.

The Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, saw seven-minute finger-prick cholesterol tests being delivered, got the test himself and spoke to pharmacists, patients and UCLPartners and Barts Health programme leads about the service.

Barts Health and UCLPartners worked with North East and North Central London ICBs, North East London Local Pharmaceutical Committee, HEARTUK and NHS England to provide the tests. The service shows how care is shifting from hospitals into neighbourhood settings and from treatment towards prevention. The scheme aims to prevent heart attacks and strokes by detecting and managing cardiovascular risk earlier and closer to home.

The test provides a full cholesterol reading in under seven minutes and calculates a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years, enabling pharmacists to give immediate advice and start treatment where appropriate. Results are available via the NHS App, with digital referral to GPs when further care is needed. From Spring 2026, the same test will also be used to identify diabetes and pre-diabetes.

To complement this service, Barts Health NHS Trust, in collaboration with UCLPartners and with funding from the British Heart Foundation (BHF), is also now piloting delivery of cholesterol-lowering Inclisiran injections through community pharmacies in East London.

Dr Chris Laing, Chief Executive Officer of UCLPartners said:

Making a simple seven-minute finger-prick cholesterol test available in community pharmacies can transform people’s heart health, helping them to get support earlier if they need it or understand what they need to do to reduce their risk of heart attack or stroke.

Kate Langford, Director of Implementation at UCLPartners who attended yesterday’s visit, said:

Pharmacies are within walking distance for 90% of residents and in deprived areas are often the most accessible healthcare touchpoint. Today’s visit showed how these tests are bringing cardiac care closer to home for people across north east London and supporting the shift from treatment to prevention.

Charles Knight, Chief Executive of St Bartholomew’s, said:

From prevention delivered on the high street to world-leading technology at the Barts Heart Centre, this visit shows how we are joining up hospital and community care to diagnose earlier, improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for people across north east London.