Roy used to work as a hospital porter until he developed problems with his eyesight 12 years ago. He had six corneal transplants in his left eye and more recently, also had a cataract removed from the right eye. But he still has trouble seeing clearly and his eyes can sometimes feel quite itchy. Around the same time when Roy developed his eye problems, his wife Janet, who he has been married to for 35 years and who had worked at the same hospital as a dinner lady, became disabled due to a lifelong problem with her legs bending outward. Roy took early retirement and now is a full-time carer for his wife.

Roy’s main current health concerns are his failing eyesight and chronic back pain stemming from a slipped disc some years ago. He manages the pain by taking paracetamol twice a day. For the last fifteen years, Roy has been taking medication to help control his high blood pressure and cholesterol. He also takes medication to settle his stomach as he is prone to bouts of gastroenteritis. The initial blood-pressure lowering drug he was prescribed made him feel dizzy, tired, hot and sweaty, but after the GP changed his prescription he has not experienced any other medication side-effects.

Roy and Janet attend the same GP practice and usually will go to appointments together. They like to see the same GP who has known them for all their lives and tells it straight’. However, the appointment system can make it difficult to get an appointment quickly.

When Roy was first diagnosed with high blood pressure, his GP gave him leaflets and advice on leading a healthier lifestyle and things he could do to help himself. Roy says the diagnosis was a wake-up call’ and since then he has become more active, has managed to keep his weight down and eats a very healthy diet with lots of salad and fresh fruit. However, he really struggles to give up smoking, though he has managed to cut down to 10 cigarettes a day. His wife Janet also smokes, though neither of them will smoke in the house anymore. They both find that if they go out for the day they tend to smoke a lot less.

Roy has been attending regular bimonthly check-ups at his GP surgery ever since he has been taking statins and blood pressure tablets. However, until he was invited to take part in this study, he had been unaware that his kidney function was mildly impaired. After speaking to the researcher, he made an appointment with his GP and was told that his kidneys were a bit low’. He did not ask any further questions at the time but still is a bit worried as he is not sure just how low’ his kidneys are and whether they are likely to get any worse. One of Roy’s brothers died of a kidney bleed as a young man, so Roy wonders whether his own kidney impairment might have a genetic cause.

A few years back, Roy consulted his GP because he thought he was passing blood in his urine. He was referred for a kidney scan at the hospital, but eventually it turned out that the red colour of his urine had been caused by eating beetroot the day before.

Roy finds it reassuring to attend regular check-ups every two months. His wife Janet, who has diabetes, attends check-ups every six weeks. They both think it’s important to having regular checks for all vital organs and that GPs should tell their patients the full story. This may cause some people to worry when they needn’t worry, but health professionals should take the time to explain.