When private breast screening is useful between NHS mammogram invitations

You have usually arrived here because the NHS invitation feels a long way off, because the last mammogram was two years ago and the next letter is not due, or because breast or ovarian cancer in the family has made a three-year gap feel like the wrong interval for you. That is a different question from wanting a smear, a coil, or a lecture about catching everything early. This article will not sell slogans. It is about when a private breast screening package at The Health Screening Clinic is a reasonable way to fill a gap, and when the NHS programme, a family-history clinic or a symptom-led GP visit is still the appointment that fits.

NHS breast screening in England invites women aged 50 to 70 for a mammogram every 3 years. GOV.UK is explicit that this is because most breast cancers develop in women over 50, and that you can choose whether to take part. If you are 71 or over, you can still ask for breast screening every 3 years, but you will not be automatically invited. The test is an X-ray of the breast. Most people need no further tests. The result letter is not a guarantee that you do not have breast cancer and will not develop it, and breast cancer can develop in the time between screening appointments. Please contact a GP promptly if you notice an unusual change, even if you have recently been screened.

A three-year interval is a programme design for a population, not a personal promise. Private screening does not rewrite that programme. It can, in defined situations, add a package between invitations, before invitations start, or after they stop, with a doctor-led examination, imaging chosen by tier, and an in-person review at 117a Harley Street, London W1G 6AT. The clinic has practised there since 1984 and is registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Familial risk, dense tissue, and the gap the NHS interval leaves

NICE guidance on familial breast cancer groups people by family history into near-population, moderate or high risk. Those categories are not a DIY kit. They exist so that NHS family-history and genetics services can offer more frequent mammography, and sometimes MRI, than the three-year population programme. Moderate risk can mean annual mammography in the forties. High risk and known gene changes such as BRCA1, BRCA2 or TP53 sit in a tighter surveillance pathway, including the NHS Very High Risk programme for some women, with MRI and mammography at ages set by national protocol rather than by a private blog.

The UK National Screening Committee treats screening as the process of identifying apparently healthy people who may have an increased chance of a condition, then offering information, further tests or treatment as appropriate. No test is perfect. A false positive says the chance looks higher when the condition is not there. A false negative says the chance looks low when it is. GOV.UK's own leaflet puts numbers on the population programme: around 96 people in 100 need no further tests, 4 in 100 are recalled, and of those 4 people, 1 is diagnosed with breast cancer. Most people recalled do not have cancer. Very rarely, a cancer may be missed. Screening can also find a cancer that would never have caused harm. Mammography uses a small amount of X-ray radiation.

Those facts are why a private package is not a slogan about finding everything in time. It is a booked investigation with limits. Dense breast tissue is one reason ultrasound or MRI may be discussed. The NHS notes that dense tissue can make you more likely to get breast cancer and can make mammograms harder to read, and this clinic does not offer mammography under 40. Family history is another reason, once a GP or genetics service has been given the pedigree rather than after a late-night search. Age under 50, or 71 and over when automatic invitations stop, is a third. A lump, skin change, nipple change or persistent pain is not a screening gap. It is a symptom, and it belongs with a GP as soon as possible, even if a mammogram was recent.

If the real question is a cervical smear or a coil, that is not a breast package. Those appointments sit with The Gynae Clinic at the same Harley Street address, not on this screening-package pathway, and they are not the subject of this article.

Essential, Advanced and Elite breast packages

Private breast screening here is three doctor-led tiers, each with a consultation, a specialist clinical breast examination, and an in-person review.

Most imaging results are available within 3 to 5 working days. Genetic tests, where they are part of Elite, may take longer, up to around 10 days. You are not left to interpret a report alone. If something is found, the doctor explains it and, where needed, arranges referral.

Essential breast screening is £449. It is high-definition mammography for women aged 40 and over, with the examination and review. Mammography looks for calcifications and structural change. It is not offered under 40 at this clinic. If you are under 40, Essential is the wrong tier.

Advanced breast screening is £799. It is high-resolution breast ultrasound, suitable at any age, and the recommended first-line imaging here for women under 40 or where dense tissue makes the extra soft-tissue view useful. Ultrasound does not replace the NHS mammogram programme. It is a different picture.

Elite breast screening is £1,599. It combines breast MRI with BRCA genetic testing. MRI is used here as the highest-contrast look at breast tissue, at the ages the clinic accepts for that scan. BRCA testing looks at inherited lifetime risk rather than at a lump on a particular day. Elite is not a promise that MRI plus a gene test can rule cancer in or out. It is the tier when family history, density or a wish for MRI is the question, still with an examination and a review.

If what you want is a whole-woman Health MOT that includes breast imaging rather than a breast-only package, that is a different booking. The Elite Health MOT for women, at £2,095 on a Thursday or Friday specialist day lasting 2.5 to 3 hours, includes a gynaecologist consultation, trans-vaginal and pelvic ultrasound, a mammogram from 40, and a smear, on top of the Advanced MOT core of chest X-ray, DEXA when indicated, spirometry, VO2 max and four GP appointments across the year. Do not force a smear or a coil into a breast tier, and do not treat a breast package as a well-woman MOT.

Booking does not need a GP referral. The consultants page is there if you want the wider clinical team. Keep your NHS invitations as well. Private imaging does not cancel the three-year programme, and a private recall does not replace an NHS assessment clinic if that is where you have been asked to go.

Tips and tricks

• Write down whether the gap is age, interval, family history or density, because those four problems do not share a tier.
• Under 40, start with Advanced ultrasound rather than asking for a mammogram this clinic will not do.
• From 40, Essential mammography can sit between NHS invitations if the question is still mammography.
• Dense tissue or a wish for MRI points toward Advanced or Elite after a doctor has heard the history.
• Take family history to a GP as well as to a private clinic, because NICE moderate and high risk pathways, and the NHS Very High Risk programme, are not something a blog can assign.
• Bring previous mammogram letters, implant information, and a medication list.
• Say if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under a breast consultant, or have had a mammogram in the last six months, as those facts change whether imaging should happen now.
• If you notice a lump, skin change, nipple change or persistent breast or armpit pain, ask for an urgent GP appointment rather than waiting for a screening slot.
• A flag, a recall or a cyst on ultrasound is not a diagnosis. The review is where a picture becomes a plan, or a plan to watch, repeat or refer.

Things to avoid

• Do not treat the three-year NHS interval as a personal failure, and do not treat a private package as a way to outrun every interval cancer.
• GOV.UK is already clear that screening is not 100% reliable, that cancers can appear between appointments, and that most people recalled do not have cancer.
• A flag is not a diagnosis.
• Do not book Essential under 40.
• Do not book a breast package because you wanted a smear or a coil.
• Do not skip NHS invitations because you have paid privately.
• Do not use slogans about catching it early as a reason to pile on MRI and gene tests without a question.
• Do not sit on a new breast change because a screen is already in the diary.

If you do want to review breast screening packages, the details sit on the private breast screening page, or you can call 020 7183 7056.

For the wider women's check, read how a well woman Health MOT differs from a smear appointment. If breast cancer runs in the family, see family history and package choice.

Frequently asked questions

When is private breast screening useful between NHS invitations?

When you are in the three-year gap, not yet invited, or past automatic invitations, and the question is still screening rather than a new symptom. Family history and dense tissue can change which package is discussed. A GP remains the door for a lump or a change you can see or feel.

I am under 50 and have not been invited. What then?

NHS invitations cover women aged 50 to 70. Under 40, this clinic uses ultrasound rather than mammography. From 40, Essential mammography is available as a private package. Family history still belongs with a GP, because NICE surveillance is an NHS pathway as well as a private choice.

Does a recall or an odd finding mean I have cancer?

No. GOV.UK notes that most people who need further tests do not have breast cancer. A flag is not a diagnosis. A normal mammogram is not a guarantee either, because cancers can be missed or can develop later.

What is in Essential, Advanced and Elite?

Essential at £449 is mammography from 40, with examination and review. Advanced at £799 is breast ultrasound at any age. Elite at £1,599 is breast MRI with BRCA genetic testing. Results typically take 3 to 5 working days, longer for genetic tests.

How does the Elite Health MOT differ from Elite breast screening?

Elite breast screening is an organ package. The Elite Health MOT is a whole-woman screen that includes gynaecology, trans-vaginal ultrasound, a mammogram from 40, and a smear, on a specialist Thursday or Friday.

Should I still go to NHS breast screening if I pay privately?

Yes, unless a clinician has given you a specific reason not to. Private packages do not cancel the national programme.

Sources

• NHS. Breast screening (mammogram)
• GOV.UK. Your guide to NHS breast screening
• NICE. Familial breast cancer (CG164)
• UK National Screening Committee. Principles of screening
• The Health Screening Clinic. Private breast screening
• General Medical Council. Medical register, Hikmat Naoum, 3047637

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

Dr Hikmat Naoum

FRCOG

Consultant Gynaecologist

GMC: 3047637

Expert consultant providing advanced gynaecological evaluations and imaging interpretation.

Last reviewed: 25/09/2026