NHS health check invitation

[iminapickleofhoarding]

Well I’ve just seen someone say that at 40 you should get an invitation for a health check. I’m 45 and never had anything like this. My GP is a waste of space and I’m lucky nothing has been really wrong with me because i am pretty sure it would be overlooked! Have all other 40+ on here had this invitation?
YABU = Yes
YANBU = No

@Ihavedogs thank you. I've done so many with patients I think I probably mutter the questions in my sleep

To add, the idea is, if your Qrisk is above what we expect for you (taking into account age, gender and personalised medical history) then we discuss and implement (if patient agrees) preventative measures.

I always think something like a statin which costs pennies to the NHS, while a lifelong medication, is better to take as a preventative than the consequences of say, a stroke. Obviously natural lifestyle changes should be the priority but sometimes medication intervention is also required.

The GPs don't do the health checks, it would be HCAs, NAs or nurses. Hence, likely to be more appointment availability. The same people who initially review BP pressures in a lot of (not every) surgery.

The NHS well-being checks are every 5 years from your last one currently up to the age of 74. If you do develop any of the conditions which would exclude you from the eligibility then obviously that's slightly different.

I turned 40 just before Covid took off. I’m 43 now and I still haven’t booked an appointment. I think it’s with the nurse. I figured they have a lot on their plate however I do get annual thyroid checks and when I’ve had hospital appointments, I’ve had weight and blood pressure checks. I’d say just keep up to date with smears and if GP surgery is snowed under, maybe put in a request to surgery to have a full blood count. You can collect the blood test form from the surgery and they will call you if there is anything untoward.

@hashbrownsandwich I wish more people would take up the offer of health checks especially those who have little contact with health care professionals. Sadly their contacts tend to come when things have escalated somewhat and then can be more challenging to manage.

The NHS is not very good at preventative care and not surprisingly neither are patients. I am totally with you on lifestyle interventions, but I do feel that there is a lack of knowledge, perceived, cost implications and as a country we have lost sight of what healthy means which adds to the challenge.

Mid fifties and never had an invite. However I do attend all my smear, mammogram and bowel cancer screenings so maybe they think I'm doing okay.

I ignored the invite (it was early 2021 so I figured they were busy at the time) but when I went to the GP last spring for something unrelated they chased it up. I obviously then forgot about it for 6 months and eventually went in December. It was fairly painless - I didn’t even get told to lose weight!

Our recent checks were actually thru county council. it was cheaper than private cholesterol test & helped them meet their targers.

Yes i did. At 40 and last year shortly after i turned 45.