David Gruber, 50, from Rainham Mark did just that – and was surprised by what the health check found.
As someone who works out twice a day, and tests his cholesterol regularly, David was confident he was in good shape when he got a letter from his GP practice inviting him to have a free NHS Health Check.
The pressure of his work, as site manager for a building company, meant he put off going for his check for several months, until he had some holiday booked. But, when he walked into Thames Avenue surgery in Rainham, for his check, he expected to get a clean bill of health.
That was why it was a shock when, after examining his blood test result, healthcare assistant Angela Mudge alerted him to a poor cholesterol reading and advised him that he would do well to change his eating habits.
“I do weight training before work and in the evenings every day and I thought I was managing myself fine, so it was a bit of unwelcome news,” said David.
“Apparently my levels of HDL, good cholesterol which protects against heart disease, are low, and I have a high level of LDL, or bad cholesterol. So my arteries were in danger of furring up".
“Angela talked me through foods to eat plenty of, foods to eat less of, and foods to stay away from".
“Before, I ate a lot of red meat and had eggs and bacon for breakfast every day – working on a building site, it’s the easiest food to get your hands on".
“Now, I have completely changed my eating habits. I’m having fruit for breakfast, lots of chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner, and no red meat at any time. I feel less bloated as a result and I am aiming to lose a bit of belly fat as well.”
David’s advice to anyone else putting off their NHS Health Check is to get on with it. “There could be so many people like me, walking round, thinking they’re all right when actually they could be choking up their arteries,” he said.
“It’s funny – we all know the advice, but until you find out that eating the wrong things is actually affecting you and your health, it’s easy to ignore it.”
Free NHS Health Checks are for everyone in Medway aged between 40 and 74.
People are being invited in a phased way by their GP practice for an assessment of their individual risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, along with health advice tailored to their personal risk factors.
The plan is for everyone in the age group to be offered a health check every five years – except people who already have one of the conditions it checks for, who will continue to be monitored by their GP practice in the usual way.
The check itself consists of a blood pressure test and a cholesterol test, height and weight measurements, and questions about the person’s medical history including age and ethnic background (because people from some communities have a higher risk of heart disease, for instance) and that of their close family.
If the results from this first check flag up that they could be at higher than average risk, tailored advice and treatment are given and they may be invited to have further tests.
Dr Alison Barnett, Director of Public Health for Medway, said: “Even if people are feeling well, I would urge them to take up the NHS Health Check when it is offered to them by their GP practice - prevention is better than cure.”
Checks offered onboard the SOS bus
As part of the overall NHS Health Check scheme, NHS nurses are running sessions onboard the SOS Bus at Job Centre Plus in Chatham for out of work and homeless people in Medway.
As part of the overall NHS Health Check scheme, NHS nurses are running sessions onboard the SOS Bus at Job Centre Plus in Chatham for out of work and homeless people in Medway.
“Research shows that people who are out of work or homeless typically have worse health than other people the same age,” said Dr Barnett.
“Given the continuing success of the NHS Health Check scheme through our GP practices, we were delighted to be offered money by the strategic health authority [the regional NHS] to pay for some extra checks for people who are out of work or homeless.
“Healthcare assistants who carry out the NHS Health Check in GP practices are offering the checks onboard the SOS bus at 17 all day sessions, which are proving enormously popular – and valuable. To date, 56 percent of those attending the SOS Bus for their health checks have been referred back to their GP for further investigation for diabetes, kidney disease or cardiovascular disease".
“Early diagnosis and treatment, resulting from the NHS Health Check, will minimise their risk of complications.”
