“DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?”

Today, 5^th July 2018, it is the UK’s National Health Service’s 70^th birthday. This makes it 4 years older than myself. There are many big celebrations planned, and many people are giving their stories of how the NHS has saved their lives. I myself in 1952 was born at home with a private doctor in attendance, but by the time of the birth of my sister in October 1955, my mother’s third delivery was in an NHS hospital, as was her fourth in 1959.

My parents were middle class and comparatively affluent for the times, and they did not think the NHS would provide as good medical treatment as private health services. They had medical insurance, especially as my mother was a frequent patient with many small, and some quite large treatments over her lifetime. However, when I left school and went off to London for my first job, I met and became friends with many people who were studying medicine and practised at the great London hospitals (Bart’s, St Thomas’s, St Mary’s Paddington, Guy’s ) which were all NHS. I throughout my own life have always used the NHS and benefited from its excellent care, both from local General Practitioners and clinics, and as in-patient in hospitals for various surgical operations. Both my children in the UK were born in an NHS hospital, and both have had prompt and excellent treatment through NHS staff when required.

However, I remember one occasion in my early fifties, when at the doctor’s surgery I asked my GP if I could have a test for cholesterol, or fat in the blood. He startled me by saying “Do you really want to know?”. That threw me for a few seconds. I was very surprised, because I didn’t think it was the doctor’s job to question the request of his patient; it was not unreasonable for me to ask for a blood test in a GP’s surgery!

I thought at the time, that that was a strange or even unethical attitude for a GP to take, when all advice seemed to point towards getting as many tests done as possible to prevent diseases from bad diets. I thought (unkindly and unjustly) that the doctor was concerned a) that he couldn’t be bothered to perform “yet another” bothersome test that might lead to more work for him, b) that he may have had to break bad news to me and c) his remark seemed to me to indicate that he thought the whole thing was unnecessary for a man of my age and medical history, and undermined the message that I had received from the media about getting tests to avoid diseases. It was likely that he had been seeing many patients who were demanding blood tests precisely BECAUSE they had been taking up the advice of the medical profession as advertised through the media.

I was not too bothered by his comment, and I am sure I mumbled something about having heard of the advisability of getting a test done. I recall I did have a blood test, that showed my cholesterol was a little above average, but nothing at all serious.

 However, at the age of 66 currently, and feeling in comparatively good health, I now see why the doctor asked that question. There are many things that strictly speaking could be professionally regarded as wrong with my body, and that would take time to investigate and test, and cost public money from the NHS to fix, but perhaps ignorance is bliss in this case. I have varicose veins, I have digestion problems, skin and scalp conditions, maybe higher blood pressure than is wise, I am now “fairly stout” around my middle, (ie I am over-weight), I feel stiffer in my joints, I move more slowly, and I may have other internal problems.

But why unnecessarily investigate my body and have numerous tests, if I am physically and mentally active and normal for my age?  Do I REALLY want to know all that is wrong with my body? Thanks to a lifetime of excellent medical care from the NHS and a relatively modest lifestyle, I am in reasonable health for my age, I think. But if I knew certain things, would it affect my life for the worse? THAT is what my GP thought all those years ago, when I asked for a cholesterol test. I was surprised by his answer then, but would not be now.

C. Tim Taylor. July 5^th 2018