Cognitive screening versus waiting for a memory clinic

You have usually arrived here because a name has started to slip, a parent has lost the thread of a familiar kitchen, or a family history of dementia has made a Harley Street screening page and a memory-clinic waiting list look like the same appointment. They are not the same appointment. Cognitive screening at The Health Screening Clinic is a specialist-led look at current thinking, structure and chemistry in someone who feels well enough to be screened, or who has a subtle concern they want measured. A memory clinic is a threshold assessment for persistent decline that already affects daily life. Sudden confusion belongs with 999 or A&E, not with either diary.

The clinic is at 117a Harley Street. This article stays on screening. The Alzheimer's Risk assessment is currently £2,499, and optional amyloid PET is listed at £2,500. Everything else is the published protocol, read by a specialist, rather than a slogan about how many years a disease might have been sitting in the brain.

When it is 999 or A&E

NHS guidance is plain. Call 999 or go to A&E for a life-threatening emergency. For the brain, that includes sudden confusion, stroke symptoms, a seizure, collapse, or a person who was well this morning and cannot now recognise where they are. Face drooping, arm weakness, slurred speech or sudden loss of vision do not belong on a screening enquiry form.

If you are reading this while the person in front of you is suddenly confused, stop reading and call 999. Do not drive them yourself if you think it is a stroke. NHS 111 is the route NHS.uk names when symptoms are urgent but not life-threatening, or when you are not sure whether 999 is required. A private cognitive diary is not a substitute for that public emergency system.

Delirium from an infection, a new medicine or an acute illness can look like a memory problem. That still needs urgent medical assessment rather than a wait for a screening slot.

What cognitive screening here is

Screening on this pathway is specialist-led. The published visit includes a consultation with a dementia consultant specialist, a detailed history and neurological examination, cognitive testing with MoCA and CNS Vital Signs, a brain MRI with a dedicated dementia protocol, and a review with the specialist and a personalised plan. That is a structured look at thinking, examination findings and brain structure in one conversation.

The bloods published on the same pathway are a full blood count, a full lipid profile, HbA1c, thyroid, high-sensitivity CRP, homocysteine, B12, folate, vitamin D, APOE genotyping, and pTau-217. Those results can show anaemia, thyroid change, B12 deficiency, glucose control, inflammation and two pieces of Alzheimer-related information. They do not diagnose dementia, and a laboratory flag is not a diagnosis. APOE genotyping describes a genetic risk pattern rather than a disease you already have, and pTau-217 is a blood biomarker a specialist reads with the history, the examination, the cognitive scores and the MRI, not a verdict on its own. There is no NHS dementia screening programme. APOE testing is not routinely recommended, and pTau-217 has been validated mainly in people with symptoms.

MoCA is a clinician-administered cognitive screen. CNS Vital Signs is a computerised battery. NICE dementia guidance (NG97) treats cognitive assessment as part of a wider clinical picture and is plain that a normal score on a cognitive instrument does not, by itself, rule dementia out. The same caution runs the other way, because a lower score is not a diagnosis either. Depression, anxiety, sleep, medicines, hearing loss and other medical problems can all cloud a result.

Optional amyloid PET is listed at £2,500 as an add-on. It is a nuclear-medicine picture of amyloid in the brain, and it is neither automatic nor the screening visit itself. Enquire if a specialist thinks that extra picture would change the plan, rather than treating it as the default because the number is on a page.

The consultants page is where you can see the clinical team, including Prof Arshad Rather, Consultant Geriatrician and General Physician. A result is only useful if someone who has examined you will own what happens if a score, a marker or a scan is abnormal.

What NICE asks a dementia assessment to do

NICE NG97 covers assessment, diagnosis and support for people living with dementia and their carers. In public care, a GP often starts: history, examination, bloods to look for other causes of memory problems, and a cognitive test. NHS.uk is plain that memory problems do not necessarily mean dementia, and lists depression, anxiety, delirium from infection, an underactive thyroid and medicine side effects among the other explanations. If dementia is still suspected, the GP may refer to a specialist such as an old-age psychiatrist, a geriatrician or a neurologist, sometimes working in a memory clinic.

That is a diagnostic pathway for persistent change, not a slogan and not a private screening menu. Private cognitive screening can use some of the same tools, including a neurological examination, validated cognitive tests, structural MRI and targeted bloods. Using those tools does not make the visit a memory-clinic diagnosis, and it does not replace a GP if nobody has yet looked at a new tablet, an infection, low mood or a hearing problem.

Keep a Health MOT in its own diary if what you wanted was a whole-person preventative assessment with lipids, blood pressure and, on higher tiers, hormones or MRI of more than the brain. Cognitive screening is not a substitute MOT, and a MOT is not a substitute cognitive protocol.

When a memory clinic is the right referral

Persistent memory or thinking change that is already affecting daily life, and that you want held at a diagnostic threshold, belongs with a memory clinic rather than with screening.

NHS.uk describes that specialist visit as something a GP may arrange after other causes have been considered. People come because work, finances, medication or safety at home have started to slip; because planning, language or decisions have become effortful in a way that is new; or because a partner or adult child is sure something has moved beyond ordinary ageing.

The sister practice in the same building, Medical Express Clinic, runs that consultant memory clinic with Prof Rather. Details sit on the memory clinic page. That is the referral when screening is no longer the honest job, although it is not the call to action for this article and it is not a same-day walk-in.

This clinic stays on screening. If you want the specialist-led protocol described above, that is the booking here. If you want a memory-clinic threshold assessment for established decline, that is the other diary. If you want a contact conversation because you are not sure which of those two you are asking for, say whether daily life is already affected, and whether the change was sudden.

Tips and tricks

• Decide which job you are booking before you enquire.
• Sudden confusion, stroke symptoms or severe illness is 999.
• A new milder memory complaint, or a problem that still needs a general medical review and routine bloods, often starts with a GP.
• Cognitive screening here is specialist-led measurement of thinking, brain MRI on a dementia protocol, and the published bloods, including APOE and pTau-217.
• A memory clinic is for persistent decline that already affects daily life.
• Bring a medicine list, previous bloods and scans, and a relative's note of what has changed if one exists.
• Say whether the booking is for yourself or for a relative.
• Ask whether a family member should sit in the room.
• Read the FAQ if you want the clinic's published answers on age, APOE and how this visit differs from a standard memory test. Then book only after the job is clear.
• Optional amyloid PET at £2,500 is an extra picture if a specialist thinks it would change the plan, not the visit itself.

Things to avoid

• Do not sit on sudden confusion, face droop, arm weakness or slurred speech because a screening enquiry is in a draft email.
• Do not copy marketing that turns a possible long disease course into a reason to panic.
• Do not treat APOE, pTau-217, a MoCA score or a brain MRI as a diagnosis or an all-clear.
• Do not book cognitive screening because you wanted a Health MOT, and do not book a MOT because you wanted a dementia-protocol MRI and specialist cognitive testing.
• Do not use screening as a way of skipping a GP when the problem is a fever, a new tablet or low mood.
• Do not invent a main package price from another clinic's menu.

If you do want specialist-led cognitive screening, the details sit on the cognitive screening page, or you can call 020 7183 7056.

If family history is the reason you are asking, read family history and package choice. For what a scan can show that nobody was looking for, see incidental findings on a private scan.

Frequently asked questions

Is cognitive screening the same as a memory clinic?

No. Screening here is a specialist-led protocol for people who want current thinking, a dementia-protocol brain MRI and targeted bloods measured. A memory clinic is a threshold assessment for persistent decline that already affects daily life.

What does the screening visit include?

A specialist consultation, neurological examination, MoCA, CNS Vital Signs, brain MRI with a dementia protocol, and a specialist review. Bloods include full blood count, lipids, HbA1c, thyroid, high-sensitivity CRP, homocysteine, B12, folate, vitamin D, APOE genotyping and pTau-217.

How much does the main package cost?

The Alzheimer's Risk assessment is currently £2,499. Optional amyloid PET is listed at £2,500. Confirm current fees with the clinic when you enquire.

Does APOE or pTau-217 diagnose Alzheimer's disease?

No. APOE describes a genetic risk pattern. pTau-217 is a biomarker a specialist reads with the rest of the assessment. A laboratory flag is not a diagnosis.

I am suddenly confused. Should I book screening?

No. Call 999 or go to A&E for sudden confusion, stroke symptoms or severe illness. NHS 111 can advise when it is urgent but not life-threatening.

When should I wait for a memory clinic instead?

When persistent memory or thinking change is already affecting daily life and you need a diagnostic threshold assessment rather than a screening protocol.

Do I need a GP referral for screening here?

No GP referral is required to enquire about this clinic's screening pathway. A GP is still often the right person if routine bloods, a medicine review or an infection have not yet been considered.

Sources

• NICE. Dementia: assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers (NG97)
• NHS. How to get a dementia diagnosis
• NHS. Stroke symptoms
• NHS. NHS 111
• NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. Dementia, assessment
• General Medical Council. Medical register, Arshad Rather, 6035767
• Health Screening Clinic. Cognitive screening
• Medical Express Clinic. Memory clinic

Written By

Stephen Lingam

Managing Director

Managing Director of Medical Express Clinic and the Health Screening Clinic since 1984. Over 40 years of operational experience in private healthcare on Harley Street, overseeing patient care, clinical standards, and service delivery.

Medically Reviewed

Prof Arshad Rather

MRCP, SCE Geriatric Medicine

Consultant Geriatrician and General Physician

GMC: 6035767

Prof Rather is a distinguished consultant geriatrician and general physician, renowned for his comprehensive expertise in managing complex medical conditions in older adults.

Last reviewed: 25/09/2026