I’m curious about these new private sector “Health MOT” companies, like Live Smart.

Basically they send you a blood sample kit, you send it back, then you have a consultation over the phone.

Has anyone used such a service before?

I just want a general “Health MOT” and it’s a nightmare getting appointments through my GP. I’m 35 so too young for the standard NHS Health Check.
Thanks

Do it yourself blood test? No thanks!

put your picture up here badnewz and we’ll give you a healthcheck by way of a critique of your physical status.

It’s a pin-prick thing, not syringe.

Thanks for the offer Jekkyl. I’ve let myself go a bit this month mind.

your head’s too small.
Jesus look at that guys legs!

You could be doing with ironing those curtains.

That website looks like they sell 6 month “health improvement programmes”, so I ‘m betting the phone consultation would go “oooh, your (insert blood marker here) is a bit high/low, but don’t worry we can sell you some pills and our 6 month (insert random blood marker here) reduction/improvement programme!”

Is there anything specific you are concerned about? If so go see your GP to discuss it. Even if there’s not go and see them anyway as they can point you in the direction of impartial services that won’t be designed to sell you more stuff (unless you need it).

Thanks David Jey, I will do that. It does look a bit too commercial..

I had one at work a couple of weeks ago, due to having a licence to drive the forklift.

Blood pressure, hearing test, weight/height, water test to check for diabetes/kidney function, etc.

Was all good other than needing to loose some weight – but I knew that anyway. 😳

Can you get something through work??

Because I’m over 40, I’m getting pestered by my GP to have and NHS health check. Waste of time and money imho. I could replace the whole she-bang with the following…

1. If you smoke, stop.
2. If you drink alcohol, cut down.
3. If you’ve over weight, loose some.
4. If you don’t do any exercise, do some.
5. If you get stressed, learn to deal with it.
6. If you eat any processed food, replace it with non-processed food.

Job done.

Not a waste of time. I got a cholesterol check, which I’ve never had before and the usual stuff which I rarely get done. The only bit which is a waste of time is the BMI which is utter nonsense. Luckily I got a clean bill of health so no specific advice, but clearly if you’re overweight, a smoker or unhealthy eater then of course the advice will be to change your lifestyle. That wont change until the person in question decides to listen to the advice they’re given and act on it. But some people can’t be told, think they know better and ultimately end up becoming a burden on the system. At least by doing these health checks it’s another opportunity for the professionals to give you the advice and maybe to catch anything serious early.

The only chance for the NHS to survive and become sustainable in the long term is to become more pro-active and try to catch peoples ailments before they take hold – prevention is better, and a lot cheaper, than cure.