Full Health Check

joejoem

Is there anyway to get tested for everything, to get peace of mind etc. A friend was telling me a girl they know died on Monday (age 26) of cervical cancer. I am 24 and in great shape, but things like cancer can hit anyone. Is there anywhere you can go to get tested for all major diseases/illness's/virus's?

Nala

You should ask your doctor.

Beruthiel

your doctor will tell you what you need to know

joejoem

Nala wrote:

You should ask your doctor.

I am looking to avoid the €50 consultation fee and him telling me I dont need to. Second to that I dont want to see my gp anymore, I am looking for a new one.

Nala

joejoem wrote:

I am looking to avoid the €50 consultation fee and him telling me I dont need to. Second to that I dont want to see my gp anymore, I am looking for a new one.

???
Find a new doctor. You will probably have to pay a lot more than €50 to get a full check up.

joejoem

Beruthiel wrote:

your doctor will tell you what you need to know

I know that this is not a medical forum but I am looking for a little bit more than "ask your doctor" I was wondering if there is a clinic or has anyone gone for a FULL health check. I amnt asking for a prescription or how to treat an illness, just if anyone knows where to get a full health check up,
cholesterol -> Cancer

Repli

Your GP would be your first point of call, but I doubt they would give a CAT scan or a PET scan to test for cancer to someone who just is just paranoid about having cancer but showing no symptons..

toyomi

go to the well woman centre-- look em up online.
or go to the STD clinic in st james -they test for everything including smear tests for cancer

TinCool

Blackrock clinic do a whole body service. Not sure of the cost though, but then again, you can't really put a cost on piece of mind. My bro has had it done.

joejoem

toyomi wrote:

go to the well woman centre-- look em up online.
or go to the STD clinic in st james -they test for everything including smear tests for cancer

Isnt a smear test only for women? Or can they find cancer by running a spatula over your testicles

joejoem

TinCool wrote:

Blackrock clinic do a whole body service. Not sure of the cost though, but then again, you can't really put a cost on piece of mind. My bro has had it done.

Thank you, 1) for a good/helpfull answer and 2) for not saying ask your doctor.


/EDIT
I just rang the Blackrock Clinic, its €470 for the check up! I knew it would be expensive, but damn that is an expensive peace of mind!

toyomi

joejoem wrote:

Isnt a smear test only for women? Or can they find cancer by running a spatula over your testicles

didnt know u are a male-- so go get ur prostate checked

Beruthiel

joejoem wrote:

I just rang the Blackrock Clinic, its €470 for the check up! I knew it would be expensive, but damn that is an expensive peace of mind!

Blackrock Clinic is the most expensive hospital in ireland, if you cannot afford to pay a GP, you certainly cannot afford to go there.

cousin_borat

I've been considering going to the Blackrock for that check for sometime. It's alot of money but I'm thinking it would be well spent to have everything checked at once

joejoem

Beruthiel wrote:

Blackrock Clinic is the most expensive hospital in ireland, if you cannot afford to pay a GP, you certainly cannot afford to go there.

where did I say I couldnt afford it? I said "I am looking to avoid the €50 consultation fee", again thanks for the helpful comment.

newgrange

You can get any test you like, but it will not give you a guarantee against any illness.

That said, if there is a family history of something in particular, or lifestyle issues that would make you more prone to something, it's worth checking for early signs.

cormie

I'd like to know about my health too. If anyone knows what it involves please state. I wouldn't want to go get bloodtests and all that done. Scary!

Genghis

Beruthiel wrote:

Blackrock Clinic is the most expensive hospital in ireland, if you cannot afford to pay a GP, you certainly cannot afford to go there.

It might be the most expensive hospital, but it is not the most expensive place you can go in Ireland to get this done. For that you would need to go to 'The Well' - Link and look for one of their 'Executive Medicals'. AFAIK these cost roughly €600.

A bit of good news, though. If you have health insurance you are most likely covered for some of the cost involved. I have enquired with BUPA, and they will cover me for 50% of the cost, so long as I go to one of their approved clinics (Blackrock is one, I think the Mater is another). You can claim once every 2 years, but they will only process your claim at year end.

I intend taking one in October / November, for €200 odd, I think it would be worthwhile.

Now, was that what you were looking for?

Santa Claus

OK, this is not any form of medical advice, just personal experience :

I had a health check done in the Mater Private at end of last year for €310. It's pricy but they cover nearly everything you can think of such as various blood tests, chest x-ray, ECG (heart), kidney / liver specific blood tests and a very thorough physical by a doctor which lasted about 30 minutes.

I found it very good and although pricy, I have HSA insurance which covers me for up to €200 a year for health screening so it actually only cost me €110.

Also you don't need any referal letter from your GP for it.

Link to Health Check site

Beruthiel

Genghis wrote:

It might be the most expensive hospital, but it is not the most expensive place you can go in Ireland to get this done. For that you would need to go to 'The Well' - Link and look for one of their 'Executive Medicals'. AFAIK these cost roughly €600.worthwhile.

well now, you learn something new everyday,
never heard of that place

delly

The Well in sandyford are big into doing those sort of things.

www.thewell.ie

/EDIT sorry i left the reply option open too long, therefore i'm repeating whats already been said.

cousin_borat

VHI don't cover it on any of their plans, I checked with them earlier this year

Santa Claus

You could claim back the cost of a health check against tax using the MED1 form at the end of the tax year.This can be used for all doctors visits, medicines etc and you get refunds (not sure at which tax rate it's calculated, maybe ask on the Soc-BEF board) based on medical expenses over the excess of €125.

Genghis

The cute hoor in me would like to enquire ...

Is it possible to claim back on your tax as well as on your health insurance?

Santa Claus

Forgive the OT reply but in answer to previous post :

When you claim back against tax you have to declare anything you've recieved from VHI/BUPA/etc which then gets deducted from the amount your refund is calculated on (You don't have to declare HSA as their not a health insurer just a cash back plan...I have checked this with revenue), so NO you cannot claim from both.

Although I suppose if someone were devious enough they could sign their tax return saying they had received no money from their health insurer and then pop in a claim to their insurer after they'd gotten their cheque from the taxman, but that would be BOLD as you'd be depriving our goverment of the tax money they deserve !

joejoem

Santa Claus wrote:

but that would be BOLD as you'd be depriving our goverment of the tax money they deserve !

Dont start..... thieving baxtards.

secret_squirrel

I think €300 odd once a year for peace of mind is quite reasonable. I know one of the Bupa plans in the UK includes a yearly check up like this - shame VHI and Bupa.ie dont follow suit.

Just on the chance of catching cancer at an early stage its worth it. 1 in 3 of us will experience cancer at sometime during our lifetime. If I could afford it I would schedule a checkup every 6 months.

On a similar note my local surgery wanted to charge me €40 just to visit the nurse for a collesterol test.

secret_squirrel

Just got a mail back from Healthcheck at the Mater Private - the price is now €477 :eek:

Suddendly the health of my wallet seems more important!

Victor

For a little more than the cost of the consultation, your GP should be able to do substantial blood tests.

Also, do consider the issue of stress* - it's the new industrial disease.


*and general mental health recereational drug use