Free Health Checks

[Tringa]

Am I the only one who was surprised by this - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46701195 - not so much that fewer than half of the eligible people take up the check, but that the checks exist.

I'm 67 and have been registered with the same practice for the last 40 years. I have also lived in the same house for almost as long and the practice has had my current address for all the time I've lived here.

Apart from once, so long ago I can't put a year to it, when the practice offered to test my blood pressure I have never been offered any other health check.

Do others get offered a free check regularly(or at all)?


Dave

 

[arclight]

Just looked at the NHS Scotland website. There are checks for the 40 - 64 group, but it is not everyone (and, to be blunt, I found it a bit boring to read the detail). Seems to be restricted to those living in the most deprived areas and even then it is by invitation via a GP's letter (that suggests there is some filtering to target the highest risk patients). Sounds like it is quite a small group of people. Don't know what the take up is like, but probably poor.
When I go for my annual flu vaccination the nurse checks my BP. She used check my weight, but she now can tell by looking that I am near enough OK.

 

[nilagin]

We used to have yearly health checks at work and results were always passed onto our GP's. Not had one for over 5yrs but I could have one if I asked.
Never been offered one by the GP though.

 

[rick448]

I have to have an annual medical at work, and have also had one of the free NHS health checks, I didn't bother last year though as my medical covers pretty much the same stuff. I might have one next year though as it does test cholesterol which my work medical doesn't.

 

[onomatopoeia]

When I registered after moving I got offered one, that didn't I didn't take up. When I went in earlier this year for a trapped nerve, the doctor I saw said "since we don't see you very often, I'd like you to come in for a health check. " which seemed to be a cholesterol test. The nurse told me it was a number, which meant nothing, but most of it was "good" cholesterol and I should eat less hard cheese. I cook with it a couple of times a month, but it;s not like I get through very much.

 

[Suvv]

I got the free one about 6 years ago and at the end the nurse said "Right I will see you in 6 months" so now every 6 months I ring them up and book a blood pressure check, they then look at the records and arrange a cholesterol blood test every couple of years.
If I did not ring for the appointment I would not get invited. My view is that it is my health and I am responsible for getting it checked.

 

[MatBin]

Can't say I ever get called in and I am in the age group.

 

[arclight]

I got the free one about 6 years ago and at the end the nurse said "Right I will see you in 6 months" so now every 6 months I ring them up and book a blood pressure check, they then look at the records and arrange a cholesterol blood test every couple of years.
If I did not ring for the appointment I would not get invited. My view is that it is my health and I am responsible for getting it checked.

Yes, that is undoubtedly the situation for everyone. However, I think that the aim of regular routine checks is to catch disease early because it is then cheaper to treat than to wait until patients are at a stage where they may need hospitalisation and all sorts of other do hickey and fannying about etc.ad infinitum.

 

[mj4456]

Never been offered this and am in the high end of the age group, since I’m currently undergoing investigation for chest pain/breathlessness am going to ask re dementia since my mother suffers from this, of course doctors are overworked up here so maybe these tests are not a high priority.

 

[Krisstiffer]

I had one a few years back which was basically 15-20 minutes of basic stuff with a nurse ending up telling me to eat healthily and giving me a sheet of paper of dietary advice which effectively told me to carry on eating in the way I already was.....
I registered with a new doctor about 18 months ago and asked about having another check as it had been a while since the last one only to be told that no such thing existed!!
So looks like the good old NHS postcode lottery raises it’s head again!!

 

[arclight]

Never been offered this and am in the high end of the age group, since I’m currently undergoing investigation for chest pain/breathlessness am going to ask re dementia since my mother suffers from this, of course doctors are overworked up here so maybe these tests are not a high priority.

If you have a fear that you could be a candidate for dementia your GP (maybe practice nurse) should be able to do the basic initial memory test in under 10 mins. GP's here only deal with one problem per 10 min appointment slot and ask patients to make additional appointments [old school GP's tend just to deal with whatever the patient is concerned about].

 

[Cartus]

I have been offered annual health checks by my Gp surgery since I was in my mid 40's. It was during one such check that in measuring my blood pressure it was found to be abnormally high and I was immediately admitted to hospital to undergo more tests to determine (or rule out) the cause. I was about 48 years old at the time in 2010. I was subsequently prescribed a cocktail of medication but despite that I had a mild heart attack two years later in 2012 and ended up at the cardio hospital in Bristol having a stent fitted.

My feeling is that had I not been offered or attended the GP health checks, the overall outcome would have been much worse for myself, maybe terminally so. I'm subsequently checked annually at my current surgery (I've moved house since 2012) in Cheltenham and have been impressed at how comprehensive the health check has been. In addition to BP and weight etc they take blood and urine samples checking for cholesterol levels, diabetes, kidney function and maybe more. I'm glad to say that having made a few 'lifestyle changes' (mainly stopping smoking since I was about 14 - 6 years now) everything is fine and I generally feel pretty good and healthy with no significant problems at all.

On a slightly different note I was offered last spring a bowel cancer screening appointment at Cheltenham General Hospital which I duly attended. Again I was impressed by the care and attention I received. The procedure was thorough (if not uncomfortable!) and carried out by a surgeon in the operating theatre. I'm happy to say that all that was found was a degree of 'wear and tear'!

I've mentioned some of these health checks to friends of mine in their mid 50's or older and I know some of them don't take up the appointments offered which is borne out in the article quoted by the OP above I guess.

 

[Nod]

Like Tim above, I'm in the middle of the bowel cancer screening. Had 3 polyps removed, one of which was potentially pre-cancerous and am due back in for another colonoscopy since the modern Picolax equivalent didn't do the whole job(bie!)… Have blood tests every 6 months as part of Diabetes checks, despite the Diabetic nurse and my GP being convinced that the original diagnosis (by a trainee locum) was wrong. Does get me a biannual MOT though!