One free health pod is open, at 2 Ossulton Street NW1, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Blood pressure, weight and BMI, with no GP appointment needed.
Camden has put a free, self-service health kiosk in a community building in Somers Town, and anyone can walk in and use it. It measures blood pressure, weight and body mass index, and it needs no appointment, no GP referral and no booking.
There is exactly one of them so far, and the council’s own service page gives the detail its press release left out: the pod is at the St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre, 2 Ossulton Street, NW1 1DF, and you can use it Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. (Camden Council)
That last part matters this weekend. The council announced the rollout during Know Your Numbers! Week, the national blood pressure testing campaign, which Blood Pressure UK runs from 7 to 13 September this year. The pod is shut at weekends, so the earliest most people can use it is Monday 14 September, the day after the week ends.
What the pod does, and what it does not
The kiosks are private booths in community spaces. Camden says they measure blood pressure, weight, BMI and other health indicators, offer advice on improving your health, and point people towards local services. The service is multilingual.
They are not a doctor. A pod gives you a number; it cannot diagnose you, prescribe anything or refer you. The council’s argument is that the number is the point, because high blood pressure has no symptoms and a reading is the only way to find it.
The numbers so far are small
Camden said on 8 September that around 40 residents had completed checks in the several weeks since the first pod opened, 23 of them blood pressure checks.
That is a modest start in a borough of more than 200,000 people, and it is worth stating plainly rather than dressing up. It also sets a baseline: if the pods work, that figure should climb steeply once there is more than one.
Councillor Kemi Atolagbe, the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, said the council had commissioned the pods “to make it easy and convenient for residents to check their health in a private, local setting, while also helping to alleviate pressure on the NHS”. She said cardiovascular disease “remains a leading cause of premature death and is a contributor to health inequalities in Camden”. (Camden Council, 8 September 2026)
The second pod is announced but not yet open
The council’s statement named the Netherwood Youth Centre and Family Hub, on Netherwood Street in Camden’s part of Kilburn, as one of the sites where further pods are being installed.
It is not on the council’s service page yet. That page still lists only the Ossulton Street pod and says more will open “later this year”, with no address, no hours and no date for the Kilburn one. If you are in Kilburn or West Hampstead, there is nothing to turn up to yet.
Why blood pressure, and why now
High blood pressure is common and quiet. Camden’s statement puts it at about a third of UK adults, most of whom have no symptoms, and Blood Pressure UK says six million people in the UK have it without knowing. Left untreated it raises the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and some types of dementia.
The council flags three groups who should check more often: men, people from Black or South Asian backgrounds, and anyone with a family history of high blood pressure.
What it means for you
- The one pod that exists is at 2 Ossulton Street, NW1 1DF, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Turn up, no appointment.
- It is free, and the council’s page says anyone can use it.
- If you cannot get to Somers Town, the council’s own advice is to check your blood pressure at a local community pharmacy, at home, or during routine contact with your GP practice.
- A single high reading is not a diagnosis. If the pod gives you one, the next step is your GP practice, not the pod again.
- The Kilburn pod has been announced but has no published address, hours or opening date. We will report those when the council publishes them.
For the practical side of living here, our pages on bin collection days, council tax bands and roadworks and travel are updated from the council’s own records.
Sources
- Community health and wellbeing pods, London Borough of Camden, read 12 September 2026, for the pod’s address, its opening hours, what it measures and the promise of more pods later this year.
- Camden launches free self-service health checks, Camden Council, 8 September 2026, for the August launch, the Netherwood Youth Centre and Family Hub site, the 40 checks and 23 blood pressure readings, the multilingual service and Councillor Atolagbe’s quotes.
- Know Your Numbers!, Blood Pressure UK, for the campaign dates of 7 to 13 September 2026 and the six million undiagnosed figure.
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