Manchester Local Care Organisation and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s (MFT) partnership work addressing inequalities in cardiovascular disease diagnosis has been shortlisted in the Excellence in the Narrowing the Health Inequalities Gap category of the HSJ Awards.

The project – Addressing Inequalities in Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis through Local, VCFSE-Delivered NHS Health Checks (Lipids Optimisation Point of Care Testing Project) – has seen trusted voluntary sector partners work to provide health checks including point of care lipid testing.

A lipid test is a blood test that measures the levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream to evaluate your risk of cardiovascular disease.

The programme has been delivered in partnership through MFT and MLCO, Manchester City Council Public Health Team, Health Innovation Manchester, Northenden GP Practice, Health Diagnostics, Winning Hearts and Minds, BHA For Equality, and the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN).

Manchester is one of England’s most deprived cities, and the standard NHS Health Check model consistently under-reaches ethnic minority and low-income communities – only 34% of the 720,000 eligible people across Greater Manchester received one over five years.

Targeting diverse and under-served communities the programme completed 459 checks. 214 participants (47%) were referred on to primary care for lipids management. The programme has already been scaled up based on this initial work to deliver 2,700 health checks using the model.

Simon Watts, Consultant in Public Health at MFT and Nana Acheampong, Programme Lead for Healthy Hearts at MLCO, said:

“We are delighted to be shortlisted for Excellence in Narrowing the Health Inequalities Gap at the HSJ Awards 2026. It will be a huge boost for our dedicated and hard-working team, especially in a year when the competition was so tough with an unprecedented volume of entries from so many other equally deserving Trusts and individuals.

“Whatever the result on the night, we already feel like winners for getting this far and are so proud to have the opportunity to share our success with colleagues from across the entire sector, as well as showcasing everything we’ve learnt through implementing our project.”

The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 19^th November 2026.