Be Well Health & Lifestyle Practitioners

Health & Lifestyle Practitioners are based at your GP practice as part of the Be Well service. They are non-clinical practitioners who can help you to make positive lifestyle changes, such as improving your diet or being more active, to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Who can access support?

Health & Lifestyle Practitioners can support patients who meet any of the following criteria:

Non-HDL cholesterol ≥ 4 mmol/L
(blood test within the last 3 months, not currently taking a statin and no history of cardiovascular disease)
QRISK score ≥ 10%
(blood test within the last 3 months, not currently taking a statin and no history of cardiovascular disease)

What is QRISK?
QRISK is a clinical tool used to estimate your risk of developing a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, over the next 10 years.

Referral criteria

Patients must also meet the following requirements to be referred:

Aged 18 or over
Registered with a Venn PCN GP practice
Not pregnant

Self-referrals are not accepted. A clinician within your GP practice must make the referral.

What happens after I am referred?

You will be contacted by telephone within two weeks of your referral.
If we are unable to reach you on the phone, we will send a letter asking you to get in touch.

During your initial phone conversation, a health and lifestyle practitioner will talk to you about the reason for your referral, answer your questions and explain the support options available. This may include:

Up to 12 months of personalised lifestyle support
Discussion about whether statin medication may be appropriate.

We can also refer or signpost you to services such as:

SmokeFree Hull
RENEW
Be Well Community Link Workers
NHS Talking Therapies
Mental Health Wellbeing Coaches
Community Dietetics
National Diabetes Prevention Programme
Many other services depending on your individual needs

What happens if I choose to accept support?

You will be invited to attend a 60‑minute face‑to‑face initial assessment. During this appointment, you may be:

Weighed
Have your blood pressure checked
Screened for atrial fibrillation

You will also be asked about:

Your current lifestyle
Your long‑term health goals
The type of support that would be most helpful for you

Following this, you will be offered regular follow‑up appointments, either face‑to‑face or by telephone, to review your progress and adjust your plan as needed.

You can choose to end your support at any time.
Please note: support lasts for a maximum of 12 months.

The Be Well Health & Wellbeing service covers the Venn Primary Care Network (PCN) which consists of the following GP practices: