The honest answer is that most people should ask their GP first. Here is when that is not true.
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We say plainly where the other option is stronger
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Private blood testing has grown quickly, and a good deal of it is sold badly — large panels marketed on the implication that more markers means better health information.
They do not. An unnecessary test that comes back mildly abnormal generates anxiety, more tests, and occasionally an invasive investigation you never needed. That is a real harm, not a theoretical one.
Consultation £40; test priced by the laboratory
Free where clinically indicated
You do not have to meet a threshold. NHS testing is rationed by clinical indication, correctly. If you want a test that is reasonable but not currently indicated — a thyroid panel with antibodies, ferritin when your bloods were called "normal" — you can have it.
Fuller panels where the standard one misses things. NHS thyroid testing often measures TSH alone. A full panel with free T4, free T3 and antibodies answers a different and often more useful question.
Interpretation rather than a PDF. A result inside the reference range is not automatically fine. A ferritin of 20 is technically normal and nowhere near enough for someone exhausted and losing hair. That distinction is the point of a doctor reading it.
Speed. Requested the same day, results usually within a few working days.
Cost. If the test is clinically indicated, your NHS practice will do it for nothing. Paying for something you could have free is a poor decision and we will tell you when that is the case.
It goes into your permanent record. NHS results sit in the record your GP will read in ten years' time. Ours do not, unless you agree we write to them.
Acting on the result. An abnormal NHS result triggers NHS investigation and treatment at no cost. An abnormal private result may mean a private referral you pay for, or going back to your GP anyway.
Appropriate restraint. The NHS threshold exists to prevent harm from over-testing. That restraint is a feature. Any private service selling you a 100-marker panel without asking why is not acting in your interest.
Sell you a panel you do not need. If the sensible answer is three markers rather than sixty, that is what we will recommend — and if your GP should be doing it free, we will say so.
Do not buy a large panel because it looks comprehensive. Every test has a false positive rate, and the more you run, the more likely at least one comes back abnormal by chance.
That leads to anxiety, repeat testing and occasionally invasive investigation for something that was never a problem. A test should answer a question you actually have.
If you already have results, bring them. Having them interpreted is usually worth more than buying more.
No. The same accredited laboratories process both, frequently the very same ones.
What you are buying is speed and choice of test, not better science.
Generally no, and this is the most useful thing on the page. More markers means more chances of a false positive.
An abnormal result from a test nobody had a reason to run causes worry and further tests, not health.
They will look at them, but they are not obliged to act on them, and they may reasonably want to repeat anything abnormal through their own laboratory.
That is not obstruction — it is how they assure the result before making decisions on it.
It needs interpreting in context, not read off a chart. Many results sit slightly outside a reference range without meaning anything.
Buying a test without a plan for an abnormal result is the commonest mistake, and it is why we include the conversation rather than just the number.
For a lipid profile, generally no longer necessary under current guidance. For a glucose test, yes.
Check when you book — fasting unnecessarily is uncomfortable and pointless.
No. We will decline tests that cannot help you, and explain why.
That includes IgG food intolerance panels, saliva hormone testing, and broad tumour marker screening in people with no symptoms — all widely sold, none useful.
For some markers it is reasonable; for others the sample quality genuinely affects the result.
Potassium in particular is unreliable from finger-prick samples, which is worth knowing before acting on one.
Most routine bloods come back within a few working days.
The result is not the deliverable — knowing what it means is, and that is what the consultation is for.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 29, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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