Private medical check up - waste of cash or helpful?

[ItWouldHaveToBe]

I’m a single parent of two autistic boys and have been full time working for years. My self care has slipped. Self neglect had been the order of the day while I dealt with the boys. I’m not paid a fortune but above the average salary. I’m on high blood pressure meds.

My work has offered in their benefits package, a medical check up which I split the cost of over 12 months.

Aibu to think these might be helpful or have people found them a waste of cash? I’ve no idea what they actually even involve, apart from the obvious bp etc.

Solo parent rather than single parent! There is no extended family about who help etc and my boys have high needs.

I did one.

They took blood and tested it for most stuff.
Vitamin D/iron etc as well as kidney disease and so on.

I went in and they spoke to me for about an hour about how I was, what was wrong with me, and offered advice (which was actually quite useful).

Honestly just for yhe time with the doctor I felt it was useful.

I got a report with all the results on it and suggestions of stuff to do.

I’ve found myself avoiding my GP like the plague and am wondering if perhaps I need to be taking a more proactive stance as I near 50.

I had a thorough check up last year (sort of private, via my school's healthcare) and it was really good, finally got my anaemia properly sorted out, checked vision and hearing, had a long talk about stress and various other emotional health issues, went through my medical history and prescriptions and got prescribed all the things I need but could never be bothered to go to the doctor about (like antihistamines), got physio referral for little aches that had been bothering me. Was really good.

Got my occupational health check up next week, interested to see how that compares.

I think it would depend what is included. I did one a couple of years ago, and will be doing it again soon. It included quick check with a cardiologist, lung function tests, eye test, mammogram and smear (not free where I live), full bloods, ultrasound - which detected polyps for example - a session with a dietician and time to chat with a GP. It was basically a full day of being passed around a hospital from one specialty to another.

Definitely worth it for me.

No, I am going for the big guns and want my organs scanned one by one.

the first one is the liver - did you guys know there are free scans for liver fibrosis?

Are you in the uk? What are big gun scans?

We have a private gp with dh work and I find it so helpful. I can get a appointment with in a hour and I get 30 minutes to discuss an concerns or ask advise (they don't prescribe or refer) it can help me see if I need further assistance or not. I also recently paid a orthopaedic consultant £250 for an hour long appointment and it was worth every penny. He answered all my questions,explained everything properly.

I have a Bluecrest health check every year with work.
Of course it’s worth it. You can’t tell what’s going on inside your body. I had a stomach infection I had no idea about !
It piece of mind too, the bowel cancer checks and all the blood tests.

Depends on your age - the reason the NHS doesn't do this for middle aged /young adults is you pick up very little. If you want to have a chat about something specific then maybe it would be useful - but unlikely to detect anything new. A one off BP check isn't terribly representative of BP generally so getting a home monitor and doing multiple readings is more useful. Loads of people in the UK are vit D deficient so I would take a supplement for that anyway.
I'm sure they will friendly and sympathetic so if you want a chat about being stressed then maybe's that's worth the money to you - I know that sounds dismissive but really you need to look at the price and what you've hoping to achieve - they will be focusing on the usually healthy living advice plus a check of BP, cholesterol, diabetes screen.

GP nurse would probably do the bloods for you given that you are on treatment for hypertension - maybe ask for a nurse appointment for a BP review?

I didn’t even know this existed.

I think my practice is actually doing some bloods soon. I know I need to get ample butt off the sofa more, lose pounds and continue to make lifestyle improvements.