The health kiosk programme provides residents with access to free, self-service digital health checks. The programme addresses the Vital 5 health conditions which significantly contribute to poor health and mortality (obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, alcohol intake and mental ill health).
Long term conditions (LTCs) have a significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing; over 111,000 Southwark GP patients have one or more LTC, with over 32,000 living with three or more LTCs (Southwark JSNA Annual Report 2024). The most diagnosed LTCs in these patients are hypertension, depression and obesity. In Southwark, patients from Black ethnic backgrounds are over-represented among those with LTCs (Southwark JSNA Annual Report 2024). As populations age, an increasing number of people suffer from multimorbidity, putting further pressure on the costs and availability of service provision in the NHS.
Health kiosks provide a free, self-service health check, easily accessible in Southwark’s libraries and leisure centres. The specific benefits of this model include:
- Suitability for those who prefer to check their health independently over attending healthcare appointments or speaking to healthcare professionals
- Ability to reach target groups without targeted invitations or marketing
- Low cost per check
- Ease of data collection and service monitoring
- Ability for users to check their health regularly and track their measurements over time
The health kiosk offer sites alongside other health check offers in the borough (including the Southwark health outreach service and the NHS Health Check) which have their own unique benefits in reaching residents.
A recent evaluation of programme outcomes demonstrated its ability to increase uptake of health checks amongst key target groups, including men, Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups and the “Core20” (the most deprived 20% of the national population as identified by the national Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)). The evaluation also highlighted positive outcomes with respect to participants’ knowledge of their health status, motivation to make lifestyle changes and change in health measurements over time. Between July 2021 and May 2024, over 16,900 people used the stations to better understand their health.
The recommissioning of the Health Kiosk Programme will include:
• expanding the number of stationary kiosks within the borough from six to up to 12, including placing the kiosks in settings such as supermarkets/shopping centres and community centres/faith settings
• developing a practitioner portal to facilitate direct referrals from the kiosks into the Southwark Healthy Lifestyle Hub
• making changes to the text and thresholds used within the kiosk ‘user journey’ to align with the Vital 5 health check and NHS guidance and to ensure information about data sharing and age criteria for kiosk use is appropriately communicated
• piloting the use of a portable version of the health kiosk through the Southwark health outreach service
• developing language options (Spanish, Portuguese, Bengali and Chinese) for the health kiosks to improve accessibility
Southwark Council will recommission the health check kiosk service via direct award process C to the current provider SiSU, under Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Regulation 6.
The lifetime value of the service is in the sum of up to £364,500 for a period of three years and two months commencing on 9 February 2025. The contract will end on 31 March 2028.