The Thames Freeport Health Bus

The Mobile Health Innovation Platform delivered 687 free cholesterol and blood pressure checks during an eight week pilot in Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Thurrock.

Between January and March 2026, the Thames Freeport deployed a mobile health innovation platform (MHIP) across 28 sites in neighbourhoods across Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Thurrock.

The pilot demonstrated that a mobile, pharmacy-led, AI-enabled model could reliably reach underserved populations, identify previously undetected clinical risk, and deliver a high-quality experience that communities trusted and valued. Importantly, it also established a replicable model for scaling preventative care beyond isolated pilots through a coordinated, geospatially targeted approach. The pilot delivered some outstanding results:

• 687 people screened and 211 turned away due to high levels of demand
• 78% of patients had not had a health check in the last 5 years
• 77% said they would otherwise not have had a health check at all
• 98% would recommend the service to friends or family
• 99% said the service was easy to access
• An average appointment time of 18 minutes

The pilot’s delivery was led by Avencera in consortium with PUBLIC and L Marks, with clinical services provided by community pharmacists from CP NEL and CP Essex. Service design integrated innovation to ensure reach, accessibility and the highest quality of preventative care enabled by partnership with ESRI, FourthSpace, Jeenie, PocDoc, HollyHealth and My MHealth.

See the programme evaluation here:

Timetable

The MHIP visited the following sites during the pilot:

Week 1 (Jan 12 – Jan 14)

Date	Day	Location	Address
12 January 2026	Monday	Kingsley Hall	Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham RM95NB
13 January 2026	Tuesday	Kingsley Hall	Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham RM95NB

Week 2 (Jan 18 – Jan 21)

Date	Day	Location	Address
18 January 2026	Sunday	Kingsley Hall	Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham RM95NB
20 January 2026	Tuesday	Bower Park (HAC)	472 Havering Road Romford RM1 4HR
21 January 2026	Wednesday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ

Week 3 (Jan 25 – Jan 28)

Date	Day	Location	Address
25 January 2026	Sunday	Barking Mosque	2 Victoria Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 8PY
26 January 2026	Monday	HASWA	Greenfields, Kilmartin Way, Elm Park, RM12 5NB
27 January 2026	Tuesday	Kingsley Hall	Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham RM9 5NB
28 January 2026	Wednesday	Romford Market	Market Place, RM1 3ER

Week 4 (Feb 1 – Feb 4)

Date	Day	Location	Address
1 February 2026	Sunday	Barking Mosque	2 Victoria Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 8PY
2 February 2026	Monday	HASWA	Greenfields, Kilmartin Way, Elm Park, RM12 5NB
3 February 2026	Tuesday	Blackshots Leisure Centre	Blackshots Lane, Grays, Essex, RM16 2JU
4 February 2026	Wednesday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ

Week 5 (Feb 8 – Feb 11)

Date	Day	Location	Address
8 February 2026	Sunday	Barking Mosque	2 Victoria Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 8PY
9 February 2026	Monday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ
10 February 2026	Tuesday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ
11 February 2026	Wednesday	Romford Market	Market Place, RM1 3ER

Week 6 (Feb 15 – Feb 18)

Date	Day	Location	Address
15 February 2026	Sunday	Leisure United Parsloes Parks	Parsloes Ave, Dagenham RM9 5PU
16 February 2026	Monday	MyPlace	343 Dagnam Park Drive, Harold Hill, RM39EN
17 February 2026	Tuesday	MyPlace	343 Dagnam Park Drive, Harold Hill, RM39EN
18 February 2026	Wednesday	Romford Market	Market Place, RM1 3ER

Week 7 (Feb 22 – Feb 25 )

Date	Day	Location	Address
22 February 2026	Sunday	Leisure United Parsloes Parks	Parsloes Ave, Dagenham RM9 5PU
23 February 2026	Monday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ
24 February 2026	Tuesday	Bower Park	Bower Park Centre 472 Havering Road Romford RM1 4HR
25 February 2026	Wednesday	The Beehive	The Beehive, Community and Voluntary Resource Centre, West Street, Grays Essex, RM17 6 XP

Week 8 (Mar 1 – Mar 4)

Date	Day	Location	Address
1 March 2026	Sunday	Leisure United Parsloes Parks	Parsloes Ave, Dagenham RM9 5PU
2 March 2026	Monday	CEME	CEME Centre, West Wing, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ
3 March 2026	Tuesday	Bower Park	Bower Park Centre 472 Havering Road Romford RM1 4HR
4 March 2026	Wednesday	The Beehive	The Beehive, Community and Voluntary Resource Centre, West Street, Grays Essex, RM17 6 XP

Week 9 (Mar 8 – Mar 10)

Date	Day	Location	Address
8 March 2026	Sunday	Collier Row Mosque	148A Chase Cross Rd, Romford RM5 3UU
10 March 2026	Tuesday	Gurdwara Singh Sabha London East	1 Gurdwara Way, Barking IG11 8UJ

If you are interested in finding out more about the The Thames Freeport Health Bus, please email enquries@thamesfreeport.com