Comprehensive health screening (privately).

[So]

I went to see an NHS specialist yesterday after a 6-month wait, only to be met by an absolutely hopeless medic. Despite being largely clueless, her superior attitude suggested that she had at the very least discovered the cure for cancer.

I am of an age where I've had a free NHS health check, which consisted mainly of a big fat nurse telling me that I needed to lose weight (despite at that point having body fat around 14% and a 32" waist).

Whilst our local GPs are a lovely bunch, unless you've obviously got a limb missing they aren't massively good at spotting what the problem is.

It occurs to me that the NHS is, at best, the medical equivalent of Halfords. I wouldn't take my car to Halfords. I was laying in bed last night fretting that I am going to increasingly become involved with medics and the prospect of that being in the NHS genuinely scares me.

I think I probably need to accept that, if I want to stand a reasonable chance of reaching old age, I probably need to invest some money in private healthcare. But where?

I remember Rod Stewart saying that he has a detailed annual health check and I am guessing he is not unique. Does anyone know where it is possible to get something MEANINGFUL done? Is it possible or even beneficial to have a full body MRI scan done?

I would add that I do have BUPA cover, but it is private and seems to be far less good than the corporate cover that friends have.

[eybic]

I worked for a Japanese company years ago and was told that one of the reasons that Cancer survival rates over there are so good is that they regularly have full body MRI scans. It's certainly something I wouldn't mind having done. I seem to remember costs are around £500-£1000 through the likes of Bupa.

[JapanRed]

The medical profession as a whole generally looks down on these whole body MRI checks. It’s done quite a lot in the US where the private sector often trumps over evidence based practice and common sense.

I’m sure you can get a full body MRI scan. Probably would cost £1000-1500 as a very rough guess.

I’m not sure I would advise it though. And I’m sure many other health professionals wouldn’t. The advertisements of such a service are potentially irresponsible and misleading. Unless you have a known genetic predisposition to a significant disease, or are symptomatic, then I wouldn’t personally have one. You run the very real risk of both false positives and false negatives which either send you down the route of multiple investigations and worry, over nothing, or false reassurance.

There was a trial lung cancer screening programme done a few years ago. They found lots of tiny modules on people which then needed follow up or invasive action, only for most to be proved benign or of no real relevance. Granted they caught some early lung cancers but I’m not sure that the benefit outweighed the risk.

[PistonTim]

I've had a couple of BUPA Health Peak checks done at a private hospital through work benefits, overall apart from the MRI which isnt included, they are excellent and give both a mature and sensible discussion around health and lifestyle in a useful and non-patronising manner.

I've had three done over the years and the experience has always been brilliant.

[anonymous-user]

You can self refer and self fund an MRI scan easily enough these days

Full body scans are of the order of £800 or so

I think I even saw a groupon offer for it once!

[Gareth79]

JPJPJP said:

You can self refer and self fund an MRI scan easily enough these days

Full body scans are of the order of £800 or so

I think I even saw a groupon offer for it once!

That will get you a DVD of images, but I don't think the average person could spot cancerous tissue unless it was extremely advanced?

[JapanRed]

PistonTim said:

I've had a couple of BUPA Health Peak checks done at a private hospital through work benefits, overall apart from the MRI which isnt included, they are excellent and give both a mature and sensible discussion around health and lifestyle in a useful and non-patronising manner.

I've had three done over the years and the experience has always been brilliant.

This sounds much better than a whole body MRI. Sit down in front of someone who will look at your lifestyle and give you a physical examination, as opposed to a 2D image of anatomy which, in the absence of symptoms, frequently doesn’t paint the whole picture.

[HustleRussell]

So said:

our local GPs are a lovely bunch, unless you've obviously got a limb missing they aren't massively good at spotting what the problem is.

It occurs to me that the NHS is, at best, the medical equivalent of Halfords. I wouldn't take my car to Halfords. I was laying in bed last night fretting that I am going to increasingly become involved with medics and the prospect of that being in the NHS genuinely scares me.

I think I probably need to accept that, if I want to stand a reasonable chance of reaching old age, I probably need to invest some money in private healthcare.

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.

Also most people seem to be reaching old age pretty much by accident provided they don't drink or eat themselves to death etc..

[bernhund]

I'll be watching this thread with interest. I had my 50 year NHS service last year which was basically a blood test and blood pressure test. From those tests I was told I have the body age of a 52 year old, which was disappointing and that my 'bad cholesterol' was slightly high. It was at the top end of the 'normal' bar. The advice was to go down the Mediterranean diet route.
My question was 'how long before that would show positive results?' and the answer was 'within a fortnight'. So I'm now thinking that had I been eating Mediterranean in the two week run up to the test, all would have been well then?
In a nutshell the test really was just a waste of time for me and the NHS. I'd like an annual test that perhaps gets my heart pumping and lungs working etc. Something a bit more in-depth.

[Mr Pointy]

HustleRussell said:

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.

Also most people seem to be reaching old age pretty much by accident provided they don't drink or eat themselves to death etc..

The NHS health check is useless & just a box ticking excercise & source of funds for the practice. When I went to mine the nurse (who was obese) had neither scales or a tape measure so I had to give her my height & weight so she could work out my BMI. Then we had the pressure to start on statins to tick another box.

[JapanRed]

Slightly off topic comment.

There’s at least 2 posts so far commenting on fat/obese nurses. Just because they don’t heed the advice themselves doesn’t make them bad at their job. Dont take offence when a fat healthcare professional tells you to lose weight. They are only doing their job (they don’t have to heed their own advice).

Same as a GP who smokes trying to get his/her patients to stop. Their own lifestyle choice shouldn’t affect the advice they give to patients.

[Mr Pointy]

JapanRed said:

Slightly off topic comment.

There’s at least 2 posts so far commenting on fat/obese nurses. Just because they don’t heed the advice themselves doesn’t make them bad at their job. Dont take offence when a fat healthcare professional tells you to lose weight. They are only doing their job (they don’t have to heed their own advice).

Same as a GP who smokes trying to get his/her patients to stop. Their own lifestyle choice shouldn’t affect the advice they give to patients.

The issue will start to become more significant as the huge changes to NHS funding become more widely known & appreciated. There's going to be a strong push towards making patients 'responsible' for their own health with 'advice' being given on issues like weight & smoking. These services are being touted for by companies like Virgin & it isn't much of a stretch to the position where you are denied treatment because you haven't followed this 'advice'. Hence you may well find that because you didn't lose wieght like an obese nurse told you to you're not getting the treatment you need. We've seen it already where patiets have been denied vital surgery until they can prove they have stopped smoking for six months.

[JapanRed]

Mr Pointy said:

JapanRed said:

Slightly off topic comment.

There’s at least 2 posts so far commenting on fat/obese nurses. Just because they don’t heed the advice themselves doesn’t make them bad at their job. Dont take offence when a fat healthcare professional tells you to lose weight. They are only doing their job (they don’t have to heed their own advice).

Same as a GP who smokes trying to get his/her patients to stop. Their own lifestyle choice shouldn’t affect the advice they give to patients.

The issue will start to become more significant as the huge changes to NHS funding become more widely known & appreciated. There's going to be a strong push towards making patients 'responsible' for their own health with 'advice' being given on issues like weight & smoking. These services are being touted for by companies like Virgin & it isn't much of a stretch to the position where you are denied treatment because you haven't followed this 'advice'. Hence you may well find that because you didn't lose wieght like an obese nurse told you to you're not getting the treatment you need. We've seen it already where patiets have been denied vital surgery until they can prove they have stopped smoking for six months.

Quite right too. Why should my taxes pay for premature knee replacements caused by obesity, when the patient themselves can’t be arsed to lose weight, which in turn means the surgery is less likely to be successful long term.

[Sheepshanks]

HustleRussell said:

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.

I don't know - as my wife and I enter our 60's we're finding the local GP practice pretty useless - very keen to fob you off to somewhere else if at all possible.

To be fair, private treatment hasn't been any better - reluctant to do anything as they follow the same protocols as the NHS, which seem to be to leave everything alone unless absolutely necessary to intevene. You get seen quicker, that all. But tough luck if the day of their private clinic isn't convenient for you.

One of our (adult) daughter has been hobbling around for nearly a year with a broken bone in her foot as they don't want to operate - and she works in the NHS.

Our 2yr old grandson has digestive problems and doesn't sleep much. His mum is clearly being fobbed off as they're obviously hoping he'll grow out it (which was supposed to happen at 6mths).

[So]

HustleRussell said:

So said:

our local GPs are a lovely bunch, unless you've obviously got a limb missing they aren't massively good at spotting what the problem is.

It occurs to me that the NHS is, at best, the medical equivalent of Halfords. I wouldn't take my car to Halfords. I was laying in bed last night fretting that I am going to increasingly become involved with medics and the prospect of that being in the NHS genuinely scares me.

I think I probably need to accept that, if I want to stand a reasonable chance of reaching old age, I probably need to invest some money in private healthcare.

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.
..

You do, do you? I think I am being quite benign, given some of the ineptitude I have seen first-hand.

Another poster mentions a reluctance to intervene, whereas I have found that sometimes there is an over-enthusiasm to do so. Serious question - are doctors incentivised to conduct biopsies?

[JapanRed]

Sheepshanks said:

HustleRussell said:

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.

I don't know - as my wife and I enter our 60's we're finding the local GP practice pretty useless - very keen to fob you off to somewhere else if at all possible.

To be fair, private treatment hasn't been any better - reluctant to do anything as they follow the same protocols as the NHS, which seem to be to leave everything alone unless absolutely necessary to intevene. You get seen quicker, that all. But tough luck if the day of their private clinic isn't convenient for you.

One of our (adult) daughter has been hobbling around for nearly a year with a broken bone in her foot as they don't want to operate - and she works in the NHS.

Our 2yr old grandson has digestive problems and doesn't sleep much. His mum is clearly being fobbed off as they're obviously hoping he'll grow out it (which was supposed to happen at 6mths).

I’m biased as I see the good work that the NHS does every day but to discuss some of your points.

“GP keen to fob you off elsewhere” - what makes you think that these onward referrals aren’t the correct and proper thing to do?”

“Reluctant to do anything” - this is usually based on evidence, as opposed to poorly informed patients demanding “something” be done.

“Broken foot” - which bone? Several bones in the foot are notoriously difficult to operate on. If it’s the ones I’m thinking of I’m not surprised they are refusing to operate as doing so would almost certainly make the system worse.

It seems to me (and I’m reading between the lines here) that you want things to happen but aren’t really sure what, and that almost certainly goes against the evidence of what works best. Trust the NHS staff/GP’s - yeah they make mistakes as do all humans but they get it right almost all the time.

[JapanRed]

So said:

HustleRussell said:

So said:

our local GPs are a lovely bunch, unless you've obviously got a limb missing they aren't massively good at spotting what the problem is.

It occurs to me that the NHS is, at best, the medical equivalent of Halfords. I wouldn't take my car to Halfords. I was laying in bed last night fretting that I am going to increasingly become involved with medics and the prospect of that being in the NHS genuinely scares me.

I think I probably need to accept that, if I want to stand a reasonable chance of reaching old age, I probably need to invest some money in private healthcare.

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.
..

You do, do you? I think I am being quite benign, given some of the ineptitude I have seen first-hand.

Another poster mentions a reluctance to intervene, whereas I have found that sometimes there is an over-enthusiasm to do so. Serious question - are doctors incentivised to conduct biopsies?

Not in the NHS they aren’t.

In private care, if they operate they get paid more so maybe if it’s equivacal as to whether surgery would be better or not, they may be more inclined to do it.

[So]

JapanRed said:

Not in the NHS they aren’t.

In private care, if they operate they get paid more so maybe if it’s equivacal as to whether surgery would be better or not, they may be more inclined to do it.

Thank you for the clarification.

[HustleRussell]

So said:

HustleRussell said:

So said:

our local GPs are a lovely bunch, unless you've obviously got a limb missing they aren't massively good at spotting what the problem is.

It occurs to me that the NHS is, at best, the medical equivalent of Halfords. I wouldn't take my car to Halfords. I was laying in bed last night fretting that I am going to increasingly become involved with medics and the prospect of that being in the NHS genuinely scares me.

I think I probably need to accept that, if I want to stand a reasonable chance of reaching old age, I probably need to invest some money in private healthcare.

Your prerogative to have private healthcare if you want it but I think you're being pretty uncharitable towards the NHS here.
..

You do, do you?

Yes, because that is what I said.

So said:

I think I am being quite benign, given some of the ineptitude I have seen first-hand.

You do, do you?

So said:

Another poster mentions a reluctance to intervene, whereas I have found that sometimes there is an over-enthusiasm to do so. Serious question - are doctors incentivised to conduct biopsies?

Maybe people who aren’t medical professionals aren’t- shock horror- the best people to judge whether intervention is necessary. They get onto Google and self-diagnose.

In the same paragraph you criticised a lack of intervention in one case and criticised a precautionary biopsy in another- and they are ‘inept’.

To bring this back onto topic I recently took my own bloods and sent them to a company called ‘Medichecks’ for an endocrinology test. They seem to have test kits for everything. They are cheap and you do it at home in your own time provided you aren’t too squeamish to squeeze several millilitres of blood out of your fingertips (which I found surprisingly difficult!)

[Sheepshanks]

JapanRed said:

It seems to me (and I’m reading between the lines here) that you want things to happen but aren’t really sure what,..

You're right to extent - I don't know what the best thing to do is, but for my own conditions:
narrowing of the little holes the nerves from my spine run through - the consultant said he could open them up. I said OK, let's do it. He then look horrified and said 'keep taking the (nerve pain) tablets.' My mother had a similar problem and ended up more or less paraplegic.
Same with reflux - hernia but don't want to operate. Keep taking Lansoprazole.

I don't know which bone is broken in daughter's foot - it's a piece chipped off it. They are considering going in and removing it. She shouldn't really be working but feels she doesn't want to abandon her own patients (she works in mental health). Perhaps being off sick might have accellerated the process.

Oh, and Grandson's long awaited specialist appointment at Alder Hey on Monday was cancelled yesterday.

These things are all having significant quality of life impacts. Actually Grandson is faring remarkably well, which is part of the problem - he doesn't look ill. But his mother in knackered due to his poor sleep.