THE Big Bolton Health Check — a campaign led by The Bolton News — was so successful it will be rolled out nationally.

Plans have been announced to scale up free NHS health checks more than five years after 73,000 Boltonians took part in the Big Bolton Health Check.

As a result of the campaign — which was launched in June, 2008, and targeted people aged 45 and over — 2,049 people were shown to have high blood pressure, and emergency hospital admissions because of heart attacks were halved.

The 10-minute checks, which identified people at high risk of heart disease, were carried out everywhere from GP surgeries and at community events to people’s homes, pubs, shops and churches. Dr Stephen Liversedge, clinical director for primary care and health improvement, said the BIG Bolton Health Check was trailblazing campaign.

He said: “We can be proud that we were the first to do this on a large scale.

“It was largely down to The Bolton News championing this campaign that we were able to reach so many people in Bolton.

“For the last four years we have built on the Big Bolton Health Check by focusing on prevention, identifying those at risk of developing long term conditions and supporting them to change their lifestyle and improve their health.”

Five years since its launch the Big Bolton Health Check continues in GP practices right across Bolton.

And these checks are now being rolled out nationally.

But health bosses stressed there remains much more to do to improve the health of the town and many people in Bolton are still to attend a health check.

Dr Liversedge said: “I would strongly encourage anyone who is invited to attend a health check to take this opportunity, even if they feel well. Conditions such as heart disease and diabetes can be very debilitating and shorten your life.”

The Big Bolton Health Check was an ambitious campaign to tackle premature death and health inequalities that offered a simple health check to everyone in Bolton aged over 45.

The aim was to identify those with, or at risk of developing, cardiovascular disease.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who was chairman of Bolton Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee at the time of the campaign, said: “I think it’s a huge achievement for the Big Bolton Health Check to still be making waves nationally.

“It was great at the time to see people queuing around Victoria Square for their checks and it just goes to show what can be achieved when a newspaper gets behind a campaign.

“It’s massive and I think The Bolton News must be praised for their coverage of it at the time.”

Cllr Martin Donaghy, current vice chairman of the health scrutiny committee, said: “I think any campaign to improve the health of our citizens is a positive thing.

“We should use all the agencies we can to encourage more people to have the checks.”

Life expectancy in Bolton is two years lower than the England average, and this gap is even wider in some parts of the town.

Much progress has been made in recent years, but smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, and particularly problems associated with alcohol remain big health issues for the town.

Health bosses have vowed to continue to work to reverse this.