Nurse Well Woman Screening
Getting ahead of the curve, when it comes to your health…
At Clinic51, we want women to be fully informed about their health, understand the key factors that impact the ability to live a long, healthy and happy life, and able to proactively make adjustments to their lifestyle that will help them remain fit and well for the next 30 years or more. Having this screen will help you to understand how you can better manage your own health and wellbeing and not take it for granted.
Most NHS and private health screening is designed to detect the early stages of disease and illness - whereas our goal is to help women to understand how their family history, lifestyle and other risk factors may lead to them developing disease in the first place.
Our wellness checks are led by our specialist women’s health nurse. They include a detailed pre-examination questionnaire, a series of checks & investigations, and a full report with detailed advice and tips, written by our women’s health doctors, on how to improve your health - and any other actions that need to be taken.
We also offer a well woman blood screen which includes tests not generally available from the NHS, or other private providers, which gives us lots of information about potential risks to your cardiovascular risk (the risk of having a heart attack, stroke or blocking of arteries).
We would recommend having this screen annually.
Below you will find more details on what is included, an introduction to our nurse, Ruth, and a link to book your appointment. If you need any further information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our reception team: info@clinic51.co.uk or 01798 667 151.
We run our nurse well woman clinics on Wednesdays, but other days are available on request - please get in touch if you’d like to find an alternative.
Well Woman Screen
£100
Well Woman Screen includes:
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This gathers a full family history, as well as information on your diet, alcohol consumption, smoking, level of activity, and other lifestyle factors.
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Having an annual blood pressure check is important, as high blood pressure can make your heart work harder and lose strength as well as damaging your blood vessels, making them weak, stiff or narrower. Over time this harms important organs including your heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.
1 in 3 adults have high blood pressure and many don’t realise. High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for death and disability raising the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or kidney disease.
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Standard measurements of weight are not always helpful. We use a combination of your body mass index and your waist to height circumference to understand if your current weight and fat distribution may be affecting your health.
Being overweight is a marker of metabolic dysfunction; although you can be of normal weight and still have metabolic dysfunction - which is why we also recommend measuring your HbA1C and lipids with our Well Woman Blood Screen.
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We measure grip strength - how hard you can grip with your hands because it is an excellent proxy for overall muscle strength and also a measure of general robustness and the ability to protect yourself if you slip or lose balance.
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FRAX is a sophisticated risk assessment tool, developed by the University of Sheffield, to help to identify people who may be at risk of osteoporosis.
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Our nurse will give an explanation of how to properly self-examine your breasts, as part of a regular, routine check.
Well Woman Screen with Blood Screen
**£300
Blood Screen includes:
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This blood test measures the glucose that is attached to haemoglobin over a red blood cell’s lifetime, so it gives a measure of your average blood sugar over the last 3 months. We use this to diagnose Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes - but it is a sensitive marker of glucose metabolism. A yearly measurement allows us to manage any deterioration proactively, before any problems are caused.
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Cholesterol is an important molecule for the body. It is used to produce some of the most important structures in the body including cell membranes, hormones and digestive bile acids.
Cholesterol gets around the body combined with protein in particles called lipoprotein. HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) has more protein than lipid and is more compact than LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) which has more lipid than protein. Neither by itself is good or bad. Total cholesterol alone does not tell us much about cardiovascular risk, but the proportion of HDL to LDL is important.
*Lipid profiling is only carried out within the NHS if you have already been referred to a cardiologist.
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Lipoproteins are transported by carrier molecules called apolipoproteins which are the key to how well the body deals with cholesterol and whether it is likely to be deposited in blood vessels “furring” them up.
In particular the level of apo B, LDL’s carrier molecule, is a strong predictor of cardiovascular risk, with higher levels increasing risk. We should see this as the main troublemaker and aggressively manage cardiovascular risk with lifestyle modification and cholesterol lowering medication, in people with a raised apo B.
*This test is not available via the NHS, OR as part of most screening checks available privately.
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This is a particularly problematic particle as it increases the risk of cholesterol getting stuck to blood vessels and then promotes clotting and blocking arteries. Most people have relatively small amounts of this particle, but some individuals can have as much as 100 times more than others.
The variation is mainly genetic, and as it leads to premature heart attacks - if you have a family history of heart attacks under 60 years, it is particularly useful to measure.
*This test is not available via the NHS, OR as part of most screening checks available privately.
*tests not available routinely in other health screens, either in the NHS or privately.
Equivalent blood tests available direct from Medicheck would cost over £250 (website published prices in May 2024)
**Blood screen must be booked at the same time as, or within three months of a well woman screen.
Please read our Terms & Conditions and have a credit or debit card available as full payment is required at the time of booking.
Women are twice as likely to die of coronary heart disease, the main cause of heart attack, as breast cancer in the UK*, yet it is still not always seen as a woman’s problem.
*Source: British Heart Foundation
Our nurse will discuss your results with you in your appointment, and you will be given a booklet with your results and advice to take home with you. These will also be sent to you by email.
The results booklet includes comprehensive health and lifestyle advice, especially prepared by our own women’s health specialist doctors.
If you have a Well Woman Blood Screen or cervical screening will be emailed to you within two weeks of your appointment.
All of your results can also be sent to your GP.
How will I get my results?
Also available:
Cervical Screening
You can have a cervical screen at the same time as your Well Woman Check. Cervical screening (a smear) helps prevent cervical cancer. It saves thousands of lives from cervical cancer each year in the UK. In England cervical screening currently prevents 70% of cervical cancer deaths. If everyone attended screening regularly, 83% could be prevented.
While cervical screening is available on the NHS, we know that for many midlife women particularly, this can be an uncomfortable experience. Our women’s health nurse is hugely experienced, and our clinic space is designed to be calm and peaceful. While the actual test itself only takes around 10 minutes, our appointments are 30 minutes long, to allow you plenty of time for questions, to feel prepared, and to recover afterwards. Women find that this helps to make this test a much less uncomfortable experience.
A Cervical Screen costs £150. Having the test privately will not affect your eligibility for your next NHS screening test, when it is due. To find out more and to book, click here.
“I have avoided and delayed having a smear on the NHS previously, because has always been such an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. Having it carried out by an experienced practitioner, who was able to take their time, made the whole procedure completely fine”
Clinic51 patient, April 2024
Meet our Nurse Practitioner: Ruth Aitchison, RGN
Ruth completed her Registered General Nurses training at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, and has over 30 years of nursing experience. In that time she has worked on gynaecology, orthopaedic, and oncology wards, in out-patient departments, as a GP practice nurse, and as a staff & school nurse. Alongside her work at Clinic51, Ruth currently works as a GP practice nurse in the NHS at Pulborough Medical Group, where, amongst other things, she runs cervical smear clinics. She loves to help women have the best experience of healthcare, by using her training, expertise and experience to help women feel safe, secure, and comfortable.
Ruth lives locally, and in her spare time enjoys time with her family (including dogs), and motorbikes.