Nuffield Hospital Health Assessment?

boybeck

My company has offered me a full health assessment at a Nuffield Hospital for the discounted rate of £327.

My question is, can you do it cheaper by just going to a doctor or other service? What do you suggest? I'm keen to have a health "MOT".

Here's what the Nuffield do.

* A full health questionnaire
* A full examination and consultation with the doctor which includes an examination of your skin, ears, eyes, throat, central nervous system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, abdominal system and your muscles, joints, spine and posture.
* Hearing and vision tests.
* Lung function test.
* Height, weight and Body Mass Index.
* Resting blood pressure.
* Resting ECG.
* Chest X-ray, if clinically indicated by the doctor.
* Urine analysis.
* Faecal occult blood test (for bowel cancer).
* A blood test which includes:
o Homocysteine: The looks for an amino acid in your blood that can correspond with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease.
o Biochemistry profile: This comprehensive range of blood tests includes tests for the signs of metabolic disease, liver and kidney functions, and cholesterol levels. Also included is a Glucose test that can detect preventable diabetes.
o Haematology profile, which can indicate anaemia.

caroline1973lefty

This doesn't sound particularly generous to me - my company (not especially rich) gives us this for free. It is quite reassuring, (and you get nice sandwiches!) but I wouldn't pay £327 for it, unless I had significant grounds for concern (unexplained symptoms, family history, etc). And if you do have grounds for concern, your GP should be happy to refer you for the neccessary tests.

LittleJo

Hi,
I had a similar offer. A call to my GP gave me sound advice. You do the same, that way you get proper professional advice. You will be suprised at what your GP will do as part of NHS. In the end the decision is yours but GP will will give you the information you need to make a balanced judgement.
For what it is worth I kept the money and had the NHS MoT.
Jo

SammyD_2

This seems like a lot of money to me for these types of tests - basically it seems they take your blood pressure, do a urine and blood test and ask some questions. I agree with LittleJo, I would speak to your GP. You might want to compare the price with the BUPA prices too to make sure it really is cheap.

On the other hand, a work colleage got a BUPA MOT done for him and his wife and found his wife had the early stages of breast cancer. Obviously money well spent, but I am just not sure that this is giving you anything you couldn't get from your GP (and some things, like the BMI calculation) you are well capable of doing yourself!

trafalgar_2

SammyD wrote:

This seems like a lot of money to me for these types of tests - basically it seems they take your blood pressure, do a urine and blood test and ask some questions. I agree with LittleJo, I would speak to your GP. You might want to compare the price with the BUPA prices too to make sure it really is cheap.

It's only about £40 cheaper than the bupa one but the bupa one seems more thorough ,set time with consultant etc,and I believe if you book online soon you get 10% off that too so your right it is a lot of money................and most of these tests your doctor should/could do if your concerned anyway,for free

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Depends on your age. If you're 60 it might be a good buy. If you're several years younger, make an appointment with your practice nurse for a general health check up which will cover most of the stuff BUPA offer. You'll know yourself if you have hearing or vision problems, same with muscles/joints/spine/problems and bowel/liver/kidney. You know how tall you are and what you weigh and if you need to diet or not.
You might want to consider what you will do if something sinister is discoverd. How will you feel if your CEA level, which can indicate the prescence of cancer, is elevated.
I imagine BUPA have this health check on offer for companies who require a full health profile before they make a job offer, and BUPA can offer it to all their other customers.
Generally speaking, anyone who has a health problem is pretty much aware of it themselves - which is why they visit their doctor.
Only you can decide whether to lay out your cash for this, but if you feel healthy and as fit as a fiddle - you probably are.