Health checkup

1. Do I actually need one? I feel fine.

Almost everyone who comes for a health check feels fine. That is the point of it. A check either finds something while it is still small and still easy to treat, or finds nothing, which is worth knowing too.

One thing a health check is not. It is not the way to get a symptom looked at. If something is already worrying you, book a consultation about that symptom instead. If it is sudden or severe, come to the emergency department or call 040 4699 9999 rather than waiting for a check-up slot.

If you are well and none of the reasons below apply to you, a check is reasonable but it is a choice rather than a need. Say that at the desk, and ask what is worth testing at your age rather than buying the longest package on the list.

A check is most worth having if any of these apply to you.

• You are over 40.
• Chronic or lifestyle disease runs in your family.
• You already carry a risk factor, such as a raised blood sugar or a raised blood pressure reading.

2. What should a health check do for you?

Three things. If it does not do all three, you have bought tests rather than a health check.

• Test you on what matters for your age, your sex and your history, rather than a fixed list applied to everybody.
• Give you a result you can act on.
• Put that result in front of a physician who explains it and tells you what to do next.

Do not skip the consultation at the end

It is the part people skip, usually because they are tired by then and not every report is back. It is also the only part that turns the tests into advice. The numbers mean something when they are read against your age, your weight, your family history and the medicines you already take, and not before.

A consultation is included in the check-up packages. It is not an extra you have to ask for.

3. Which check-up is right for me?

It depends on your age, your sex, what runs in your family, and what your own doctor is looking for. The hospital runs general checks and checks built around one system: heart, kidney, liver, lung, bone and joint, diabetes, women's health and senior citizens among them. They are listed on the packages page.

If you are not sure which to pick, call and describe your age and your history rather than choosing by price. If you already see a doctor for anything, ask them what is worth testing before you book.

4. What is in a check-up?

The general checks are built from a common core.

• A complete blood count and a urine examination
• Blood sugar, with HbA1c on the wider packages
• A lipid profile, which is cholesterol and triglycerides
• Kidney tests: urea, creatinine and electrolytes
• Liver function tests and thyroid tests on the wider packages
• An ECG, a chest X-ray and an ultrasound of the abdomen and pelvis
• A consultation with a physician

What the longer packages add

The cardiac checks add an echocardiogram and a treadmill test. Others add bone density, an eye check, or cancer screening tests. The exact list differs by package. The packages page carries the test list for each package where it is on record, and the desk will read it out where it is not.

If you bring earlier reports with you, some of it may not need repeating. Ask.

5. What does it cost?

This page does not publish prices. The figures that were on the old site date from 2024 and have not been confirmed, and a wrong price is worse than no price. Ask when you book.

If an employer sent you, ask whether your company already has an arrangement with the hospital before you pay for it yourself.

Three things worth asking at the same time.

• What the package includes.
• What it does not include, such as a test added on the day or a specialist consultation.
• Whether the price covers the physician consultation at the end. It should.

6. What happens on the day, and how long does it take?

Allow four to five hours. The tests and the evaluation happen in the same visit.

Do not stop a regular medicine on your own in order to fast. If you take tablets for blood pressure, diabetes or the heart, ask when you book whether to take them that morning.

• Come early in the morning. The earlier you start, the earlier you finish.
• Fasting is preferred. Confirm how many hours when you book, because it depends on the tests in your package.
• Bring your past records, including earlier test results and a list of the medicines you take.
• Bring a family member with you.
• Do not leave before the physician consultation.

7. When do I get the results, and who explains them?

Blood and urine samples go to the hospital's own laboratory, and the scans are done and reported in the hospital's own imaging department, so the reports and the doctor reading them are in the same building.

The physician consultation happens during the visit and covers the results that are ready by then. The rest follow. Most laboratory results are ready within 24 hours of the sample reaching the laboratory.

You get a text message on your registered mobile number as each report becomes ready. With the user ID and password given to you at registration you can see and download your reports on the hospital website or the mobile app, and printed copies can be collected.

If a report that arrives after your visit shows something, take it back to a doctor rather than filing it.