Prevention is better than the cure, and a testament to that is Echelon Health. Founded in 2005 by Dr Paul Jenkins, this company specialises in health assessments, and remarkably, Echelon Health can detect up to 92 per cent of life-threatening diseases in men and 95 per cent in women.
Nestled on Harley Street, Echelon teams leading specialists and pioneering technology such as advanced imaging equipment from CT, 3T MRI, and ultrasound scanners, as well as comprehensive blood tests to detect diseases. Once the tests are done, the client has a detailed health analysis which is explained, and ultimately not only allows for better healthcare planning but also peace of mind.
Appealing to both men and women, typically of high net worth, the clientele has one thing in common: they want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and they understand that a preventive health assessment is an investment in their good health – and this has seen everyone from sports professionals to CEO’s visit Echelon; from Dylan Michael Hartley to Sir Ben Ainslie, Tim Steiner OBE, James Caan CBE, and recently British fashion Amanda Wakeley OBE has been named as a brand ambassador.
We learn more about Echelon’s forward-thinking approach to healthcare from its founder, Dr Jenkins.
When was Echelon established, and what is its founding ethos?
Echelon Health has a simple aim, it is to reduce early mortality by detecting disease at an early stage and to increase clients’ health span. The company was established in 2005 shortly after I had founded the European Scanning Centre (this is a high-quality diagnostic imaging centre). Here, I noticed that the same advanced scanning technologies that were used to diagnose the disease at the ESC could also be used in a preventive manner to see inside the body with incredible detail that would allow the very early detection of many diseases which if left untreated would progress and cause early death.
Talk us through the process and the technology that is used at Echelon?
We offer various preventive health assessments ranging from a simple cardiac health check to our flagship offering and this is our Platinum Assessment, which is our most popular. This is the most advanced health screen currently available worldwide and by utilising several different scanning technologies to see inside the body in incredible detail, we can detect 92 per cent of the causes of early death in men and 95 per cent in women.
The assessment takes around 5-6 hours in our Harley Street centre and clients have the use of our private suite in between the different scans. They are accompanied by one of our client liaison personnel throughout their visit to ensure it runs smoothly and questions are answered.
As for our technology, we recognise that no single scanner can detect all diseases, so we utilise different ones – CT, MRI, and ultrasound scanners to image different parts of the body. For instance, only a CT scanner can image the inside of the heart arteries to determine the earliest signs of coronary artery disease, or to screen for early lung cancer.
An MRI scanner just cannot do this but conversely is superb for imaging the brain and the prostate gland, whereas an ultrasound scanner is optimum for visualising the female reproductive organs. Importantly the scanners are operated by very experienced radiographers and the resultant images are reported on by some of the UK’s most experienced radiologists, each reporting on their area of expertise, so our Platinum Assessment has reports from about seven different radiologists.
A week later, the client has a consultation, either face-to-face or via video, with one of our doctors to go through the results and make a plan for their management. If something is found that warrants further investigation, we will make a referral to an appropriate senior specialist, and depending on the urgency, this can be the same or the next day.
How did the Amanda Wakeley OBE partnership come about?
We were introduced to Amanda through a common contact; for us, it was an organic match. Amanda is very supportive of preventative health and there was a natural alignment of our values when it comes to health and wellbeing. We are also very keen to champion women’s health at Echelon, and all of these factors led to this collaboration being a natural fit.
Who has used Echelon’s services, and will you be adding more ambassadors to your roster?
Many notable and known people are using Echelon services, with our clients coming from all over the UK and Europe, and this is something we are very proud of. Our clients are usually senior professionals or successful business owners, or public figures, who want to make sure that they enjoy their health and well-being for the rest of their lives, by incorporating prevention, which is always better than cure. Some of our clients are passionate about what we do, and they kindly gave us some great testimonials, which we have on our website. We are always looking to have more Echelon ambassadors, but for us, this needs to be born out of organic synergy.
Factbox
Address: Echelon Heath, 68 Harley St, London W1G 7HE
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7580 7688
Website: echelon.health
All imagery credit: Echelon Health
