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What are the Vital 5

When you know your Vital 5, you get a picture of how healthy you are at the moment. You also get an idea of what areas you can work on in the future.

They are:

These 5 areas are all linked. For example, feeling sad or stressed a lot could make your blood pressure go up. It could also make it harder to quit smoking or take care of yourself. And feeling down could make it tough to eat well or stay at a healthy weight. But if you make one part better, it can help the others too.

These 5 areas are called the Vital 5 as they are vital for long-term good health and wellbeing. Being healthy helps us to feel well and do the things we love with the people we care about or enjoy spending time with.

If we tackle these 5 areas, we can improve everyone’s health and make sure no one gets left behind.

Take control of your wellbeing today

Explore the support available near you

How can I learn about my Vital 5?

You can find out your Vital 5 numbers with a Vital 5 check, delivered by NHS-approved practitioners at selected pharmacies and other venues throughout south east London.

The free, easy to access, check will measure your blood pressure, weight, and mental health. It will also tell you if you’re drinking at safe levels and can give advice on how to quit smoking.

The Vital 5 Check is free and takes between just 5 – 30-minutes. At the end you’ll get your personal Vital 5 passport, which is a good indication of your overall health and what you can do to improve it.

You’ll get tips you could try. You’ll also learn where you could access support to help you improve your Vital 5 numbers.

Join the 20,000 other Southeast London residents who’ve had their Vital 5 Check.

You can also have your Vital 5 checked in a range of other ways – see map below.

You can do it yourself at six kiosks in libraries and sports centres across Southwark.

A healthcare practitioner might check your Vital 5:

  • before an operation
  • at your GP practice
  • during an outpatient appointment

Click here for a list of places where you can check your Vital 5

Community Health Hubs:

You can access a 15-30 minute Vital 5 check at Bromley Health and Wellbeing Centre located at Ravensleigh House, 22 Westmoreland Place, Bromley, BR1 1DS and The Pavilion and The Spa Leisure Centres.
A healthcare practitioner will discuss up to all five Vital 5 areas with you, offering tips and support to help you stay well for longer.

  • Bromley Vital 5 locations in Bromley – walk-ins and booked appointments
    Pavilion Leisure Centre, Kentish Way, Bromley BR1 3EF
    The SPA Leisure Centre, Beckenham BR3 4PF
    Bromley Health and Wellbeing Centre – first floor at Ravensleigh House, 22 Westmoreland Place, Bromley, BR1 1DS (opposite Bromley South Station)
  • Days and times
    • Tuesday – 9am-1pm at the Bromley Health and Wellbeing Centre
    • Wednesday – 10am-2pm at The SPA Leisure Centre in Beckenham
    • Thursday – 10am-5pm at the Pavilion Leisure Centre
    • Friday – 9am-12pm at the Bromley Health and Wellbeing Centre
    • Saturday – 9am-1pm at the Pavilion Leisure Centre

Outreach:

Pharmacies:

  • B R Lewis Chemist, DA16 3HQ
  • Broadway Pharmacy, DA6 7BN
  • Duncans Chemist, BR1 4JX
  • P.E Logan Pharmacy, SE10 9EQ
  • Eltham Pharmacy, SE9 6DR
  • Kingshield pharmacy, SW9 7DE
  • Junction pharmacy, SW9 8SA
  • Copes Pharmacy, SW16 3QQ
  • Fairlee Pharmacy, SW8 3RX
  • Day Lewis, BR1 5HS
  • Station Pharmacy, SE14 6LD
  • Kristal Pharmacy, SE15 3HB
  • Bonamy Pharmacy, SE16 3HF

Free health check kiosks

You can access a digital kiosk at the following places. The kiosk lets you check your Vital 5 and provides tips and support directly on the screen. You can return as often as you like to track your progress over time.

  • Camberwell Library, SE5 7AL
  • Canada Water Library, SE16 7AR
  • Dulwich Library, SE22 8NB
  • Una Marson Library, SE17 2GN
  • The Castle Leisure Centre, SE1 6FG
  • The Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre, SE15 5QN

Remember, some services may check your Vital 5 while you’re already using their support.

These services aren’t listed here, as they’re not available solely for Vital 5 checks.

Sources of information, tips, and support

When you get a Vital 5 Check, you get the Vital 5 Blueprint – a booklet full of information, tips, and support to help you improve your Vital 5.

To learn more about the Vital 5 areas, how they impact your health and how you can improve your Vital 5, click on the links below.

 

Healthy blood pressure

Icon of a heart with a blood pressure monitorIf you keep your blood pressure in the healthy range, it helps to lower the chance of having a heart attack or stroke.

Click here to learn more about a healthy blood pressure

Stop smoking

Icon of a cigaretteIf you stop smoking, the benefits start almost straight away. After just 8 hours, your oxygen levels start to get better, and the harmful carbon monoxide in your blood stream goes down by half.

Click here to learn more about how to stop smoking

Safe drinking

Icon of a glass of beerThere are so many benefits to drinking less, you’ll have more energy, sleep better, lose weight, lower your blood pressure, and cut your risk of getting sick.

Click here to learn more about safe drinking

Healthy mind

Icon of a head with the brain visibleIf you have a healthy mind, you’re more likely to have a healthy body. This is because feeling anxious or depressed involves our bodies as well as our minds.

Click here to learn more about your mental health

Healthy weight

Icon of an appleIf you care for your body by staying in your healthy weight range, it helps lower the chance of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer.

Click here to learn more about your weight

Staying well for longer

Icon of a person running or walkingStaying well for longer means you’ll be able to keep doing the things you love with your family , friends, or people around you in your community.

Click here to learn more about keeping well for longer

Privacy notice

The Vital 5 Check is a pilot health check service delivered by different partners across south east London.

To find out more about how your data is used click here.

We’d like to capture data from your Vital 5 Check to help us to support you better. If you consent during the check, the healthcare practitioner will share your results with your GP where that is possible (e.g. if you undertake the test in your non-home borough).

Anonymised data from this service will be used to:

  • focus on funding services so they meet your needs and the needs of your community
  • support improving healthcare so it works for all individuals in the community
  • support evaluation of the Vital 5 Check pilot service

The pilot is jointly led by south east London Integrated Care System and King’s Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre. The data controller for your personal data will be the organisation who undertook your Vital 5 Check. You can access partner’s privacy notices below to find out how they store and manage your data. You should contact these organisations directly to access full transparency information and to exercise your rights in relation to your personal data processed under this programme:

Additional information

What personal data is collected

Data will only be captured and used if you have consented.

Where volunteered, demographic data about you including your name date of birth and post code and your ethnicity:

  • Postcode
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Date of birth (DoB)
  • Sexual orientation
  • Ethnicity
  • Disability

Where volunteered, clinical data about your health and wellbeing such as your blood pressure reading and your smoking status:

  • If you have previously been diagnosed with high blood pressure
  • Blood pressure
  • Smoking status
  • If you have previously attended smoking cessation or support for substance abuse
  • Alcohol use
  • Mental health status
  • If you have previously been supported by mental health services
  • Body Mass Index score (BMI)
  • If you accepted a referral to any service for additional support with any of the above areas

How your data is used

Where you request it, clinical data will be sent to the GP so it can be entered into your GP records (where the partner has the capability to do so).

Anonymised demographic and clinical data will be used to see how the Vital 5 Check service is performing and to improve it or similar services:

  • To look at how it performs in different parts of south east London and across different demographic groups
  • To highlight opportunities for improvement
  • In the future, it will be used to track how it has made a difference to long-term health outcomes
  • Inform development or targeting of existing or future health services
  • Undertake evaluation of the Vital 5 Check programme. The evaluation is being led by an evaluation team at King’s College London. Partners will collate data from delivery sites and send the anonymised data to the evaluation team at King’s College London each month. This will include some demographic data and clinical data. Each setting will transfer anonymised data to the evaluation team at King’s College London via email in a comma separated file. Data will only be accessed by authorised members of the study team. All data will be stored on password protected folders on a secure server which logs when data has been accessed.

Future data processes

We are working to connect all data to GP records. When this is complete, the evaluation process will change, and data will be pulled from the SEL discovery service.