Family health on the NHS
There are many NHS options available for family health beyond just GP appointments – make the most of these and keep your family in check.
Beyond going to your GP when you or your kids don’t feel well, how often do you make the most of what the NHS can offer you? Most of us tend to think about private medical services when we consider health checks, but actually there are lots of ways you can get more out of services that are free for all, and you’ll be keeping your family healthy at the same time.
Online health checks
Staying fit and well is one of the major aims for the UK as the government and NHS face increasing costs for all kinds of medical care. One of the real benefits for us in this, is the development of really useful online medical advice and tips on how we can keep tabs on our family’s wellbeing.
NHS Choices is a website designed to help you work out all kinds of things, from whether or not you have the symptoms of swine flu to calculating your body mass index (BMI).
Often we don’t want to waste time going to our GPs with a suspected illness that might turn out to be nothing at all, but we appreciate that it’s important to know when we really should seek help. NHS Choices has an A to Z guide to over 750 conditions from ongoing health concerns to viral infections. Here you can see what the symptoms are likely to be, what to expect as the condition progresses and what treatments are most likely.
It also has a local search which can help you find a surgery, dentist, hospital or other health centre near to you. Although much of the information on NHS Choices applies to all, it can be useful to find out more local information:
- In Scotland this service is NHS 24.
- In Wales you can visit NHS Direct Wales.
- In Northern Ireland there is HSC (Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland).
- For Ireland, there is a general EU-based health website Health-EU but there is also general health information relating to Ireland at Citizens Information.
Beyond GP services
In Ireland not all general medical care is free at the point of need, but across the rest of the UK there are many medical services that don’t require a GP appointment first.
There are many ‘walk-in centres’ around the country (search for your nearest clinic via the NHS Choices website). Specifics at each clinic will vary depending on what their nurses and facilities can accommodate, but services usually include things like blood pressure checks, contraceptive advice, dressings and care for minor cuts and other physical injuries, and advice on women’s health. Some will also be able to offer advice and support on healthy living – weight loss, giving up smoking and other similar issues.
These clinics (and minor injuries units which are searchable locally in the same way) can be a great source of quick, accessible and reassuring medical attention. Depending on their location they may operate only during weekday office hours, but many run late into the evening every day, including bank holidays.
Get savvy to your area
In the newspapers we read about the ‘postcode lottery’ of medical care. It is true that standard levels of medical service will vary from region to region, but it is worth finding out what services are available on your doorstep – you will probably be surprised by the range on offer!
Although some programmes like breast cancer screening have to be arranged via your GP, your local NHS services will include access to free mental health advice, face to face support for overcoming addictions like alcohol and smoking, specialist asthma clinics and guidance for those people who are diagnosed with conditions such as diabetes. They can also put you in touch with charitable services who offer free help on a variety of subjects including childcare and bereavement.
To find out what services might be close to you, go to the website or general phone number of your local council. But also bear in mind that many services are now made available even when they are not strictly local to you, so it’s worth visiting the NHS website and using their postcode finder to get a full view of what is available for you and your family.