A private blood test is worth having when a doctor reads it with you and acts on it. The Core panel covers 30 markers for £350, the Advanced panel 55 markers for £650, and Longevity+ adds ApoB and Lp(a) for £1,395. Results usually arrive within 24 to 48 hours.
Message the clinic and a doctor replies within 24 hours.
Any of these needs to be seen the same day. If you are severely unwell, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
A blood panel measures a set of markers at one moment. Its value lies in finding the handful of treatable things that cause harm without symptoms, such as raised blood sugar, high cholesterol, low iron and an underactive thyroid, and then doing something about them.NICE NG238, 2023
It is not a scan for every disease. Most cancers do not show on routine bloods, and a normal panel does not rule them out. A test ordered because of a symptom is read differently from a test done as a check.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Krogsbøll, 2019
HbA1c reflects average blood sugar over about three months. A result of 48 mmol/mol or above is in the diabetic range and 42 to 47 means raised risk, which is the range where lifestyle change works best.World Health Organization WHO/NMH/CHP/CPM/11.1, 2011
Cholesterol is only half a result. It is put together with age, blood pressure, smoking and family history to give a 10 year risk of heart attack or stroke, and that risk, not the number alone, decides whether treatment is offered.The BMJ Hippisley Cox, 2017
Lipoprotein(a) is inherited, stays much the same for life, and raises risk independently of other cholesterol. Measuring it once in adulthood is recommended, because a high result changes how hard other risks should be treated.European Heart Journal EAS consensus, 2022
Ferritin below 30 micrograms per litre means iron stores are low even when haemoglobin is normal, and it explains tiredness and hair shedding more often than people expect.Gut Snook, 2021
Send us what you are seeing and we will tell you what it is likely to be.
The appointment starts with why you want the test, your family history and anything you have noticed. That decides the panel, because testing without a question produces results nobody knows how to act on.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Krogsbøll, 2019
Blood is taken in clinic or at home. Some markers need fasting, so the booking says whether you should eat that morning. A doctor reviews every result and explains what is normal, what is borderline, and what needs a repeat.NICE NG238, 2023
A thyroid result outside range is usually repeated before anything is started, because a single mildly raised TSH often settles on its own.NICE NG145, 2019
Not testing
For a young, well person with no family history, a routine panel rarely changes anything. Blood pressure measured at a pharmacy may tell you more.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Krogsbøll, 2019
A targeted test
Where there is one question, such as tiredness or hair shedding, ferritin, thyroid and vitamin D answer it without a long panel.Gut Snook, 2021
The Core panel
Thirty markers covering blood count, liver function, cholesterol, HbA1c, thyroid, inflammation, ferritin and vitamin D, with a written plan.
The Advanced panel
Fifty five markers, adding full thyroid, iron studies, fasting insulin and hormones, with a 15 minute results call with a GP.
Longevity+
More than 100 biomarkers including ApoB, Lp(a) and homocysteine, for someone who wants the fuller cardiovascular picture.European Heart Journal EAS consensus, 2022
A borderline result is common. With 30 markers, the chance that at least one falls just outside range in a healthy person is high, because each range is drawn to include 95 percent of healthy people. That is why a doctor reads the panel as a whole.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Krogsbøll, 2019
Where a result needs acting on, the change is measured. HbA1c and cholesterol are rechecked at around three months after treatment or a change in diet, and yearly once stable.NICE NG28, 2022
Stop biotin supplements for at least 2 days before the test. Biotin interferes with thyroid and some hormone tests and can produce results that look abnormal when they are not.British Thyroid Association BTA statement, 2023
Book an early morning draw, before 10am, if hormones are being measured, and avoid hard exercise for 24 hours beforehand. Exercise raises muscle enzymes and can make kidney results look worse than they are.
Do not pay for a food intolerance antibody test. IgG results reflect what you have eaten, not what harms you, and they lead people to cut out foods they do not need to.
Do not buy a routine vitamin D test every season if you already take 10 micrograms a day through autumn and winter. The advice does not change with the result for most healthy adults.Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition SACN report, 2016
Step 1
A short call or the booking form. Tell us why you want the test and we match the panel to it rather than selling the longest one.
Step 2
In clinic or at home, at a time that suits fasting if the panel needs it. Most results are back within 24 to 48 hours.
Step 3
A doctor reviews every marker and writes a plan in plain English, with any repeat or treatment set out and dated.
Ask before you book if you are not sure this is the right appointment.
The Core panel of 30 markers is £350 and the Advanced panel of 55 markers is £650, each read by a doctor who writes you a plan. Longevity+, with more than 100 biomarkers including ApoB and Lp(a), is £1,395. A telephone call to choose the right one is £59.
Most results are back within 24 to 48 hours of the sample reaching the laboratory. A few specialist markers take longer, and the booking tells you which. A doctor reviews them before they reach you, so an abnormal result arrives with an explanation.
For most modern cholesterol testing fasting is not essential, but some panels include fasting glucose and insulin, which do need it. The booking says whether to fast. Water is fine, and you should take your usual medicines unless told otherwise.
It can be, for the few things that cause harm silently, such as blood sugar, cholesterol and Lp(a). A large review found routine health checks did not reduce deaths on their own, so the value lies in acting on what is found rather than in the test itself.
Core covers blood count, liver function, cholesterol, HbA1c, thyroid, inflammation, ferritin and vitamin D. Advanced adds full thyroid, iron studies, fasting glucose and insulin, hormones and PSA for men, and a 15 minute results call with a GP.
Yes. A phlebotomist can visit your home, hotel or office to take the sample, and the result is reviewed in the same way. Ask when you book, because a home visit carries its own fee and the time slot matters for fasting panels.
The doctor tells you what it means and what happens next. Often that is a repeat in a few weeks, because a single borderline result is common. Where treatment or a referral is needed, it is arranged and written into your plan.
This page is general information about a condition and it is not a diagnosis. Treatment depends on what a doctor finds when they examine you, and no outcome is guaranteed. If you are severely unwell, or if any of the warnings at the top of this page apply to you, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
British Thyroid Association
Management of primary hypothyroidism, statementBTA statement, 2023
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from diseaseKrogsbøll, 2019
European Heart Journal, European Atherosclerosis Society
Lipoprotein(a) in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, consensus statementEAS consensus, 2022
Gut, British Society of Gastroenterology
Guidelines for the management of iron deficiency anaemia in adultsSnook, 2021
NICE
Thyroid disease, assessment and managementNG145, 2019
NICE
Type 2 diabetes in adults, managementNG28, 2022
NICE
Cardiovascular disease, risk assessment and reduction, including lipid modificationNG238, 2023
Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition
Vitamin D and healthSACN report, 2016
The BMJ
Development and validation of QRISK3 risk prediction algorithms to estimate future risk of cardiovascular diseaseHippisley Cox, 2017
World Health Organization
Use of glycated haemoglobin HbA1c in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitusWHO/NMH/CHP/CPM/11.1, 2011
Written and reviewed by the clinical team at The Wellness. Last reviewed 23 September 2026.
Tell us what is going on and a doctor will say what to book, or whether you need to be seen today.