What reference ranges actually mean, why results get flagged, and when a number outside the range doesn't matter.
Referred by a GMC-registered GP, results reviewed by the same doctor
Taken at a partner site near you
Results explained in plain English, not just a number
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Getting a set of results with a few figures highlighted in red is alarming, and often unnecessarily so.
Reference ranges are set so that 95% of a healthy population falls inside them — which means one healthy person in twenty falls outside on any given marker, purely by definition. A slightly flagged result is common and frequently means nothing at all.
This page explains reference ranges, units, and how the same marker can be reported differently by different laboratories.
A marker that is substantially outside range, a pattern of several related markers moving together, or any result that has changed considerably since last time.
Telling those apart is the job of the person reviewing them — which is why every test we arrange includes a review with a GP rather than an email with a PDF.
It is the range covering the middle 95% of a healthy population. Which means one healthy person in twenty falls outside it on any given marker, purely by definition.
Test twenty markers on a perfectly well person and the odds are something comes back flagged. That is statistics, not illness.
Different laboratories use different equipment and different ranges. A result that is "high" at one lab can be normal at another. Always read a result against the range printed beside it, not against one you remember.
The same marker is reported in different units in different countries. Comparing your result with something you found online is a common route to unnecessary alarm.
Every test arranged through us includes a results review with a GP. You are never left to interpret them alone.
It is not a definition of health. A reference range is built by measuring a large group of people assumed to be well and taking the middle 95 per cent.
Which means, by construction, 1 in 20 healthy people falls outside it — half above, half below — on any given test.
Run twenty tests on someone entirely well and a flagged result is more likely than not. That is arithmetic, not illness.
A marginal result with no symptoms and no trend usually needs repeating, not investigating.
Recent illness, dehydration, hard exercise, alcohol and a recent meal all move results — and biotin supplements distort thyroid assays convincingly enough to look like thyroid disease.
"Your bloods are normal" means the things measured were within range. It does not mean nothing is wrong.
The commonest causes of persistent fatigue — poor sleep, sleep apnoea, depression, post-viral fatigue — do not appear in blood at all.
IgG food intolerance panels — IgG to a food shows you eat it. Salivary "adrenal fatigue" profiles — not a recognised condition. Hair mineral analysis, kinesiology, VEGA and bioresonance — no evidential basis.
A result from a test that does not measure anything real cannot be interpreted, however confidently the report is presented.
See your NHS record, or examine you. Interpretation always rests on what you can tell us and what you can send.
It is here because a great deal of what people pay for is explanation, and explanation should not need a fee.
A results review at £40 — twenty minutes going through your specific results against your symptoms and history, with a written summary.
Worth it where results are borderline, where "normal" does not match how you feel, or where a private provider's report is one your NHS practice will not interpret.
Because reference ranges are built to exclude 5 per cent of healthy people.
Across a twenty-test panel, at least one flagged result is more likely than not — in someone entirely well. Most simply need repeating.
That the things measured were in range — not that nothing is wrong.
Sleep apnoea, depression, chronic insufficient sleep, post-viral fatigue and ME/CFS all run with completely normal bloods, and all are real.
It is also worth asking what was not tested — a fatigue panel without ferritin, or a thyroid check without antibodies, leaves the commonest answers unexamined.
Close to the edge of the range, and usually not significant on its own.
What makes it significant is context: whether it fits your symptoms, whether it is moving over time, and what the other results are doing.
Yes, and this is the single most useful thing on this page.
Many laboratories flag ferritin only below 15, but symptoms commonly begin below 30. Genuine iron deficiency therefore sits inside the "normal" range unflagged all the time, particularly in menstruating women.
Usually it is fatty liver, which is common and reversible.
Around 7 to 10 per cent weight loss substantially improves it, as does reducing alcohol. It is worth acting on rather than filing away.
Several everyday things. Recent illness raises CRP for weeks. Dehydration alters kidney results. Hard exercise raises muscle enzymes. Alcohol affects liver tests for days.
And biotin supplements distort thyroid assays convincingly enough to look like real thyroid disease — stop them 48 hours before testing.
No. Routine blood panels do not screen for cancer, and tumour markers are not screening tests — in people without symptoms they cause more harm through false positives than they prevent.
The screening that works — bowel, breast and cervical — is free and separate.
Your blood pressure. It matters more for long-term health than almost any blood marker, it causes no symptoms, and it is not measured by any panel.
Many pharmacies check it free without an appointment.
Usually less than it reads. Radiology reports are written for clinicians.
"Degenerative change", "disc bulge" and "disc desiccation" describe findings present in most people past middle age, and are frequently not the cause of the pain.
Ask the person who requested it — that is free.
If it came from a private provider your NHS practice will not interpret, a results review is what that appointment exists for.
What rarely helps is buying a larger panel, which produces more borderline numbers and the same confusion.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 23, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
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.
Patient reviews
