THE PUT-YOUR-MIND-AT-REST MOT

Editor Sarah Tomczak goes for Bupa’s Be.reassured assessment

Is £760 a lot of money to spend to be told you’re ‘all normal’? Perhaps, but this outcome is obviously preferable to the alternative.

The description of my Be.reassured assessment at Bupa’s west London outpost

– also available at clinics around the country – sounds encouraging: an hour with a health adviser who will measure my body fat, check my heart rate and test my cholesterol levels and blood sugar, followed by an entire hour with a GP to talk through any health concerns (I make an exhaustive list).

I probably fall under the category of the ‘worried well’ – working at Red gives me access to a huge amount of health information, so I already take omega-3 supplements, vitamin D and magnesium, as well as trying to maintain a balanced lifestyle: regular exercise, not too much alcohol and ample sleep. But I do have work pressures, family responsibilities and a propensity to cram too much in. I am also noticing the first signs of perimenopause, including hormonal headaches and erratic periods, and often fret that minor aches and pains are the indicator of something more ominous.

The day before my assessment, I download the Bupa app and fill in a long questionnaire about my current lifestyle as well as any concerns. This forms a comprehensive health profile that I can access or update, and will be sent to the GP ahead of my visit.

The surgery itself looks unremarkable, but once I’ve descended a spiral staircase, a space-age corridor of small treatment rooms stretches before me.

I spend the next hour with a health adviser, who weighs and measures me, sends an electrical current through my body to accurately read my body fat, and takes three vials of blood to measure my cholesterol and test for diabetes and anaemia. She also listens to my heart and lungs and re-asks me a lot of the questions I answered in the questionnaire, as well as offering me a take-home stool-sample kit to test for bowel cancer. She adds the results to my online profile. Each section has a red/amber/green graph, and I’m happy to see my results are all ‘green’.

Next is my hour with the doctor, starting with a breast examination and smear test. I have one lumpier breast, and she allays my fears but also refers me for a mammogram, as I haven’t had one in a few years. I ask for a mole examination (not included in the package), which she’s happy to perform, and suggests I take a photo of some of my more prominent moles with a ruler beside them so I can chart any changes over time. I show her a lump on my hand – which she says is a ganglion cyst and will eventually disappear – and tell her I’ve experienced acute laryngitis twice this year, which she also believes is coincidental and not cause for concern.

In fact, the only things highlighted by the assessment are the fact that my iron levels are slightly low, so I’d benefit from another supplement, and that I could look into topical oestrogen gel to manage my hormonal headaches.

I’m grateful for this outcome and can really see the benefit of an annual assessment like this to keep on top of your health. Many employers that offer private healthcare include this as part of the package. If yours does, do use it. Otherwise, I think cheaper options could be just as beneficial.

Bupa Be.reassured Health Assessment costs £760. To find a Bupa clinic near you contact bupa.co.uk

‘THE DOCTOR ALLAYS MY FEARS ABOUT SEVERAL ISSUES’