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AIBU?

To think if I want a blood pressure and cholesterol test I should be able to have one

89 replies

muttrat · 13/04/2017 10:19

Without having to wait until next Friday for a telephone conversation with my gp to discuss why before they let me book an appointment?

I'm 51, going through menopause, my grandmother died of heart disease. I want to start running but want to get everything checked first.

OP posts:

Report

TinselTwins · 14/04/2017 16:19

You appear to have cause and effect confused. no I haven't.

because it not working is in their private interests. so we'll just prove them right?, give them more fuel for their fire?

They're eeking out any examples they can to go "look, those plebs can't have nice things, because whatever we give them they waste"

pigeondujour · 14/04/2017 16:12

It's not the publics fault, BUT, every example of wastefulness they can find gives them more fuel for "reform", i.e. sell offs. We need to pull together and prove that (what's left of) the NHS CAN sustain itself and work, and that means buying your own OTC meds if you can afford to, TURNING UP to appointments, and generally not taking the piss. Using the NHS for essentials and taking some responsiblilty for prevention

You appear to have cause and effect confused. They're not 'looking for examples of wastefulness'. They're creating a system that can't supply its demand, but telling you that the problem is waste of what would otherwise be adequate resources. And we don't need to 'prove that's what left of the NHS can work' because it can't without the right funding, which they know, which is why they aren't funding it, because it not working is in their private interests.

TinselTwins · 14/04/2017 16:04

Yeah, it matters, but it IS ridiculous to suggest THE REASON the NHS is struggling is people wanting appointments. It's struggling because it is being purposefully undermined and underfunded by the Tories. They just like to tell you it's the public's fault, and you're lapping it up

It's not the publics fault, BUT, every example of wastefulness they can find gives them more fuel for "reform", i.e. sell offs. We need to pull together and prove that (what's left of) the NHS CAN sustain itself and work, and that means buying your own OTC meds if you can afford to, TURNING UP to appointments, and generally not taking the piss. Using the NHS for essentials and taking some responsiblilty for prevention

This OP appears to want to WAIT until a bad cholesterol test before taking steps to prevent heart disease - this is not the sort of bullshit the NHS was built for!

The OP is eligible for "routine" screening (not ad-hoc whenever she demands it)
The OP could get a private health screen (non scan ones are not expensive)
The OP could just follow a heart health diet and lifestyle without waiting for a problem to fix rather than preventing problems in the first place

NotYoda · 14/04/2017 15:57

pigeon

I agree. Turning on each other is what they want.

pigeondujour · 14/04/2017 15:53

Yeah, it matters, but it IS ridiculous to suggest THE REASON the NHS is struggling is people wanting appointments. It's struggling because it is being purposefully undermined and underfunded by the Tories. They just like to tell you it's the public's fault, and you're lapping it up.

NotYoda · 14/04/2017 15:50

Maybe you should start walking rather than running?

TinselTwins · 14/04/2017 15:45

And you don;t think that what you spend that too little amount on matters? Ridiculous

True.
If everyone who worked in the NHS saved a pound a week it would save the NHS 78,000,000 which could pay for 2,228 full time qualified staff nurses.

Just because they have cholesterol test kids lying about doesn't mean they should dish them out without any sort of criteria

TinselTwins · 14/04/2017 15:39

If I find out that I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, I can take steps to reduce both. This in turn means I am less likely to need 'open heart surgery' later in life.

If you wait until you have those problems to try to address the associated lifestyle risks, you're not as health conscious as you're making out you are. Why not just be healthy now anyway ?

CPtart · 14/04/2017 15:36

I'm a practice nurse that does NHS health checks. You will be entitled to one, but they aren't done 'regularly'. If all is well your next one will be in 5 years. If you want to check your own blood pressure (its more accurate to do it at home anyway), the machines cost about £20.
We usually ask people to wait to be called in, or we would be inundated with the 'worried well' (usually affluent retired folk) demanding tests for this that and the other. If you haven't had a smear in 3 years you are due one anyway, that is why they were so obliging. You can't just have them on demand. After this, your next one will be 5 years, no sooner.
Good luck with the running.

NabobsFromNobHill · 14/04/2017 14:30

And you don;t think that what you spend that too little amount on matters? Ridiculous.

pigeondujour · 14/04/2017 14:03

It isn't, though. It's due to systematic underfunding.

NabobsFromNobHill · 13/04/2017 20:02

God, why on threads like this do people always say 'no wonder the NHS is in trouble'? It's so patently NOT the reason the NHS is in trouble

It is though! Why do some people seem unable to see that millions of tiny incidents of wastage add up to millions and millions of pounds? It's it bloody obvious?

Ellapaella · 13/04/2017 20:01

Heart disease even!

Ellapaella · 13/04/2017 20:01

OP I suspect if you tell the GP that you have a strong family history of earth disease then they will do the BP and cholesterol for you. Why not just wait and see what the GP says before complaining?!

TheNaze73 · 13/04/2017 19:55

Pay for it like most people. The NHS isn't a savings plan

harderandharder2breathe · 13/04/2017 19:50

Either pay for it or wait.

You're being asked to wait a very reasonable amount of time. If you don't want to wait that reasonable amount of time then pay a very reasonable free to have it done asap.

It's a simple choice so make it and stop moaning.

pigeondujour · 13/04/2017 19:44

God, why on threads like this do people always say 'no wonder the NHS is in trouble'? It's so patently NOT the reason the NHS is in trouble.

AuntieMay · 13/04/2017 18:07

We do fasting venous lipids and glucose for this particular healthcheck

lljkk · 13/04/2017 17:47

To get your cholesterol numbers, do they do a finger prick test? I'd like my cholesterol numbers, but not sure I can stomach the finger prick test. Too sodding painful.

AuntieMay · 13/04/2017 17:35

I'm a hca in a GP practice and I actually do the nhs over 40s healthbcheck. It's to work out a %risk for stroke and heart disease and at the surgery I work at you cannot just ring and get one, you have to wait until invited by letter. We cannot do everyone as and when as would have no appts left for anything else. Also not all GPs even run this screening programme - they don't have to! They can choose which screening they are part of and subscribe into.

cathf · 13/04/2017 17:23

Do some people not understand that there are a lot of people in the UK? Every time there is a post along these lines on MN, these people always post that one little test/free meal for hospital visitor/check-up/home visit will not make any difference to the NHS.
They are correct - one of these will not make any difference. But is it so difficult to work out that if lots of people make these small demands, it aggregates into a huge problem?
The NHS needs to go back to its original purpose of treating the ill and injured, not try to meet demands from ever-entitled people.

reallybadidea · 13/04/2017 17:15

You've probably spent longer whinging about it on here than the actual phone conversation with the GP would have taken 🙄

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CantChoose · 13/04/2017 17:09

Minor or not, It isn't urgent.
If raising a blood form I'd want to talk to the patient to check their background and see if any other tests are warranted at the same time - a diabetes check, for example. To save you having to go back for extra tests at another date etc.

hhorvath · 13/04/2017 16:56

If I find out that I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, I can take steps to reduce both.

But you can do that anyway. The advice is keep your BMI 20-25, exercise regularly (guidelines on NHS website), eat a balanced diet low in processed meat, don't smoke, don't drink much.

Lelloteddy · 13/04/2017 16:17

Oh give over OP. You didn't do any research about what healthcare screening was or wasn't available as part of your surgeries scheduled, targeted and budgeted for services.
Instead you throw your toys out of your pram online because your demand for a blood test wasn't prioritised. Entitled indeed.

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