Private Health MOT checks

BUPA used to do this years ago but, alas, no longer. As I am one of the "worried well" I used to go along and thought it good v4m and gave me peace of mind. Now I have just received an invitation from something called Bluecrest (bluecrestwellness.com) which proposes to charge me £129 for a fairly comprehensive test at a local hotel. Am debating with myself as to whether to take the offer up. Any ideas or experience, please?

My surgery offers a Well Woman check which is height/weight/BMI, blood test for cholesterol/vitamin deficiencies, discussion about health concerns, family history etc. I get this on a fairly regular basis and due to family history have had scans for ovarian cancer and bowel disease. I was also recommended to take a low dose statin even though my cholesterol is low as both my parents had worrying indicators. I think regular checks are useful as they encourage us to take better care of our health. My mother suffered from a stroke and my father from vascular dementia. Various cancers in the family (gynaecological, bowel) too. Seeing their later lives blighted like that is enough warning to me to value my health above all else and act upon advice given.

Athrawes

I attended one some years ago. It was interesting but in my view it wasn't in depth enough - still it could be said that it's better than nothing. At my surgery I see a different doctor each time - all very pleasant but they don't know my ins and outs. Bring back the old family doctor as in Doc Martin!

I think you are more likely to get remote control monitoring than see the same doctor . Mind you if technology and AI work well it should help to keep us well enough to stay out of hospital and care homes.

I attended one some years ago. It was interesting but in my view it wasn't in depth enough - still it could be said that it's better than nothing. At my surgery I see a different doctor each time - all very pleasant but they don't know my ins and outs. Bring back the old family doctor as in Doc Martin!

An NHS full bloods test would assess your liver and kidney function, anaemia, blood sugar and cholesterol. You can calculate your BMI yourself and measure your blood pressure at home, if you have a monitor.

Why not speak to your GP and ask their opinion?
Take an actual examples of what they are offering privately. You may find the GP says that some are worth looking at. Maybe you can then book them privately if the GP isn't authorised to send you for them.

My daughter's surgery does routine health checks - you could perhaps book one of those as a springboard for discussion?

Where I live the checks are not so comprehensive. For a fee, they do height, weight, BP and body mass index. You could do all of that in the comfort of your home for free. I personally think it is a waste of time.

Some of the fees charged are eye-watering- your GP is free and if you have an accident or feel really unwell, A&E is also.

Ilovecheese

No experience, but do you not think they might have a vested interest in finding problems.

And selling you a nice insurance package 🤔

I would rather not know that something ‘might’ happen in years to come and spend the rest of my life looking for non-existent symptoms.

My blood pressure always increases when I see any medical person.

I had one of these about ten years ago. It picked up that my blood pressure was too high, a fact that no doctor had noticed previously, strangely.

Joseann I think that is good advice from your uncle.

My uncle was a GP and totally against these checks. He said it was far better for a patient to come along with a specific worry to investigate than to go chasing unnecessary tests.

Tiggy - do you really want to know? It could be that they find something incurable - you will worry yourself to death, before the illness kills you. Sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant. Good luck with whatever you decide to do ….

The health check I’m looking at offers COPD lung function test, heart, liver, kidneys, conditions relating to blood clots, aneurysm risks, anaemia, diabetes, cholesterol, ECG, BMI, bone mass, muscle mass, inflammatory arthritis.

I've had private checks, mainly the well woman type. Bloods, smear, breast examination etc. There are some that offer scans I believe and ABPM.

Tiggy - what Ilovecheese says

What does the private health check include?

Thanks for your replies - the NHS health check only seems to focus on heart-related assessments. I’d love to hear from anyone who has had a private health check, to hear their opinions.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-health-check/what-happens-at-an-nhs-health-check/

It could be worth looking at this and then asking the private provider what they provide so you can see what is actually additional.

Generally private providers do like health checkups because it costs them less if they can catch things early. The NHS is doing this but they probably could/should do more of it.

I think you're going to have to ask what it includes, to know whether it's worth the money.

No experience, but do you not think they might have a vested interest in finding problems.