It depends on the panel:
- Express and general health checks — initial results can start arriving within about 2 hours, with the full report typically ready in 1 to 2 working days
- Advanced and signature panels — comprehensive profiles usually take 2 to 4 working days
- Specialised genetic and complex cardiac panels — up to 6 weeks
You will be told which category your test falls into before you book, so there are no surprises.
If anything comes back that needs acting on urgently, we contact you straight away rather than waiting for a scheduled review.
How quickly will the doctor call me about my results?
Same working day if something needs acting on urgently. Otherwise your written explanation is released with the results, and a conversation is booked if there is anything to discuss.
This is one of the genuine differences between private and NHS testing. In general practice a result often sits in a queue until someone gets to it, and you hear nothing unless it is abnormal. Here the doctor who requested the test is the one who reads it, and you are told what it means either way.
How you receive them
Results are released to you with a written explanation from the doctor who requested them, not as a bare set of numbers against a reference range. A GP reads every result personally.
Where there is anything to discuss, that includes a conversation about what it means and what happens next.
Why a panel can take longer than expected
- Different markers run on different analysers, and a panel is only complete when the slowest one is. One specialised marker can hold up an otherwise finished report
- Some samples have to be sent to a reference laboratory, which adds transit time
- Occasionally a sample fails — clotted, haemolysed, or insufficient volume — and needs repeating. We will tell you rather than let you wait wondering
If you have heard nothing
Chase us. No news is not good news, and it should never be treated as a result in itself.
Email hello@cheshireclinics.com if you are past the expected window — that is a reasonable thing to do, not a nuisance.