To think Waitrose and BUPA partnership is unethical

[Whirliegigspiders]

They have planted various health check things in some stores. Some are just stand alone machines. Some are BUPA staff offering and conducting the free health checks. Apparently if they find an issue...And how many of us won't have a minor issue?! They will give you 20% off your 1st BUPA appointment.

I have 4 stores within an hour of me. They have only put it in 1. The one high a v v v high % of elderly population and also very affluent area. They absolutely see this as a cash cow.

These checks are free...What is Waitrose getting out the deal? I assume a wad of cash to have these large machines placed in prime position at entry to the store.

What will people do if they have a slightly off reading but otherwise feel fine (Assume would have visiting their own GP otherwise) will they get investigated via Bupa at great cost to themselves. Or will they take the results of their own Dr in NHS and ask them to "do something" about it?

What if someone has a naturally v low bp and has never has not checked as they aren't symptomatic and are absolutely fine as that's their norm. The machine will flag a problem...specifically in the one with no BUPA staff what will the Waitrose staff do? Have they been primed to offer health advice? Will they phone 999?! Will they say nah you'll be fine off you go home?

It's not an appropriate place for this imo. And I don't think it's appropriate anywhere. It's selling health care to people who don't actively need it.

I notice they aren't outside the food banks offering free health checks and lifestyle advice to those who have no money...only to those who can pay. Specifically the elderly who they can guilt trip into signing up as "for your familys sake"

Waitrose seem to be imploding on a big scale lately.

I agree this sounds unethical - there are many reports that say these private health checks are essentially scaremongering (albeit usually to the detriment of the NHS, not to the benefit of BUPA).

It would put me off shopping there if i was going to get hassled for a health check when was buying potatoes.

Yy private screening often throws up problems that would never have gone on to harm you. That you'd have lived and died with (not from) without being hurt at all by it.

You can end up much worse off with unnecessary meds and then side effects from them etc. For somerhing that was never causing you symptoms/never would and never would have injured or killed you. And would never have been found.

Yy private screening often throws up problems that would never have gone on to harm you. That you'd have lived and died with (not from) without being hurt at all by it.

Remind me of a friend who,won a BUPA health screening at a charity do. They told him he had z y and z wrong with him, his liver was affected. He declined further tests from them and went to his GP with the report and tests were done, yup you guessed it, nothing wrong with him

fintress I think the name for that is popularity paradox. I could be wrong. And I'll prob explain this in a rubbish way but it's like you get screened and feel happy cos aaah that's good nothing was wrong so feel relieved. But if to that find something...anything...Even if it's tiny and not an issue at all you think phew thank goodness that's been found. Even if the treatment is a lot of meds/surgery etc with increases risk that you might not actually benefit from. A very very very small % will find something dangerous that NEEDS acting upon. But if you're the kind of person to proactively engage in health checks you're likely the kind of person who would go to gp at early symptoms so would still be found at early stage anyway. Therefore outcome would be the same. Mortality rate remains unchanged.

Lots of research/publications on it that explains it much better than I can.

Yes, popularity paradox is correct. I agree that it can do more harm than good.

www.bupa.co.uk/waitrose

Bastard I knew they would be upselling.

Those tests are either freely available on the nhs or are not evidence based and are therefore not available on the nhs.

They are deliberately trying to scam the elderly population by selecting stores with the highest elderly population in Glasgow area. Absolute shitheads. I bet it's the same in other stores they have selected...this certainly won't have been a pop all stores in a hat and decide scheme.