Bluecrest Wellness is trialling extended opening hours all over the country to try and help working people access health assessments at a time that suits them.
The preventative health assessment specialist currently run over 1,200 clinics per month from over 450 venues, open 9am to 5pm. With the average assessment taking around 30 minutes and a clinic on average 20 minutes from people’s home or work, it should be possible to fit one in during a lunch hour.
But for many people, accessibility is still a key barrier, which is why Bluecrest is already opening many clinics earlier and providing appointments into the evening, and intends to extend the clinics where these extended hours are available over the next few months.
The trial clinics across the country will start from 8am and run until 9pm, and collect data on usage and customer satisfaction.
Bluecrest launched the trial in response to feedback from corporate clients to support take-up from their employees.
Chief Growth Officer Jon Darby explains: “We know people really value the health assessments their company buys them. Now more than ever, they want to stay ahead of their health, understand what’s going on inside their bodies, and spot potential risk factors early. But we also know that it’s one of the things that can keep slipping off the To Do list when people are really busy. That’s why we want to help make it as easy and convenient as possible to go for a health assessment.
“We already think about the location of our testing sites, setting up pop-up clinics in places like hotels so people can get to them easily – and park easily. We’ve streamlined our processes to do a thorough and efficient job of taking all the medical readings we need. And now we’re looking at our opening hours, too.”
If the early morning and evening appointments prove popular, the extended hours will be replicated at other popular locations, responding to demand and new corporate sign-ups or renewals.
Jon says: “We want people to be able to live and work health confident, and we want businesses to be able to support them, invest in them, and get the data they need to drive health and wellbeing initiatives and strategies.
“It’s why we work so closely with our business clients to communicate our offer to employees, with bespoke marketing, white-labelled websites, and tailored email campaigns. We’re committed to supporting take-up, and we’re passionate about how our health assessments can empower individuals and improve businesses.”
In 2023, Bluecrest delivered more than 150,000 health assessments and expanded its corporate offering. Health assessments help people spot issues early, get follow-up care, and make lifestyle changes, and helped companies understand employee health, improve engagement and sickness absence, and track the progress of interventions.
Individuals receive their results digitally within 8 days using a simple traffic light system with red, amber or green flags. If there are enough participants, companies also receive aggregated, anonymised data looking at health issues, trend and patters.
After seeing the results, 40% of customers go on to lose weight, 37% plan to exercise more, 33% adopt a healthier diet, and 15% go on to drink less alcohol.
