What a well man check should include if it is more than a blood form

A well man check should include a doctor, a physical examination, an ECG and blood tests that are reviewed in person, because a posted blood form is not an assessment of a man. If that is all you are being sold, you have bought laboratory work, not a check. The Health Screening Clinic runs that doctor-led visit as a personal Health MOT at 117a Harley Street, quietly, without gym marketing or a testosterone catalogue.

People usually land here because a search for a well man check produces home kits, hormone panels and hotel-room blood draws that never put a clinician in the room. Those products can be legitimate laboratory requests when a doctor already knows the question. They are not a well man check. A useful appointment answers whether your heart, blood pressure, abdomen, metabolic chemistry and, when the question needs it, pelvic organs have been examined by someone who will own the report.

Examination, bloods and ECG are the baseline

The Essential Health MOT is the well man baseline. It currently costs £495 and lasts about 45 minutes. You see a Harley Street doctor for a consultation and a physical examination, have an ECG and oxygen saturation, a medical body composition analysis, and a metabolic blood panel that includes full blood count, kidney and liver function, lipids, glucose and HbA1c, thyroid (FT4 and TSH), iron, uric acid, bone chemistry and an inflammation marker. You then return for a results review, usually with the same doctor who conducted the assessment.

That combination is the difference between a check and a form. Blood pressure, heart sounds, an abdomen and lymph nodes can show problems a tube of blood will not. An ECG can show a rhythm you cannot feel. Lipids, HbA1c and kidney numbers can show risk a stethoscope will not. NICE cardiovascular guidance (NG238) treats lipids as part of an assessment that also uses clinical findings and family history. That is why the examination and the bloods belong in the same visit.

Essential is the published starting point for men under 40 who want a proper baseline, and it remains a coherent booking after 40 if the question is still metabolic health rather than imaging. Same-day appointments are available when capacity allows. It is a discreet clinic visit, not a performance screen and not a bodybuilding panel.

What Advanced adds for men

Advanced currently costs £999. Allow one to one and a half hours. A minimum four-hour fast is required. It includes everything in Essential, then adds a chest X-ray, a DEXA scan when clinically indicated, spirometry, a VO2 max assessment, an advanced thyroid panel, vitamin D and B12, and a male hormone profile. It also includes four private GP consultations over a calendar year.

That is a different kind of well man visit if lungs, bone density, fitness or hormones are part of the question you brought. It is not automatically a better check because the list is longer. A chest film and lung function matter if you have smoked or have a respiratory question. Hormone numbers matter if a clinician is going to read them with the examination. They do not become a treatment plan because they sit on a well man brochure, and they are not a reason to shop for testosterone.

What Elite adds, including ultrasound and PSA

The Elite Health MOT is the well man visit with specialist ultrasound. Men currently pay £1,850. Allow two and a half to three hours, with a four-hour fast. Elite includes the Advanced work, then adds abdominal, pelvic and testicular ultrasound, a pelvic examination, CEA, and PSA for men aged 40 and over.

Ultrasound looks at structure a blood test cannot see: liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys and aorta; bladder and prostate; both testes and the epididymis. PSA is extra information for the doctor who has already examined you. NHS pages are plain that a high PSA does not mean you have cancer, and that inflammation, an enlarged prostate, recent ejaculation, cycling or a urine infection can lift the figure. A low or ordinary-looking result is not a lifetime all-clear. NICE suspected-cancer guidance (NG12) uses PSA inside defined symptom-led pathways, not as a general cancer ruling. The UK National Screening Committee has not recommended a national prostate screening programme.

If the question is the prostate rather than a wide well man assessment, prostate screening is the named-organ diary, with examination, PSA or a broader prostate profile, and MRI on the higher tier. That is a different booking from a Health MOT. Keep any NHS conversation about PSA that you already planned, because a private Elite visit does not replace informed choice with a GP.

Tumour markers on Elite, including CEA and PSA, are clues. They can be raised for non-cancer reasons and ordinary when disease is present. They are read with the ultrasound and the man on the couch, not as a posted oncology kit.

A posted male hormone kit is a different job

A posted male hormone kit is not a well man check, and it is not this clinic's job. That kind of request belongs with Blood London, which is a sister laboratory service for named blood tests, including hormone panels. A kit, or a blood draw without an examination, can tell you a testosterone number. It cannot listen to your chest, look at your testes, record an ECG, or decide whether a flagged result needs a specialist.

This clinic does not sell testosterone, does not run a bodybuilding protocol, and does not treat a well man MOT as an entry to hormone replacement. If energy, libido or training recovery is the only question you have, say so, because the honest booking may still be a doctor-led MOT rather than a posted tube, or it may be a GP conversation about symptoms rather than a screening package. A hormone profile inside Advanced or Elite is context for a clinician. It is not a product.

How to choose Essential, Advanced or Elite

Use age and the question, not the thickness of the menu.

Under 40, Essential is the usual well man starting point, since the job is a doctor-led baseline. Over 40, or if you want imaging, hormones and a year of GP access, Advanced is the published routine screen. If you want testicular, abdominal and pelvic ultrasound, and PSA from 40, Elite is the matching tier.

A quiz can point you at a tier before you book. More tests are not automatically a more useful check. Ultimate, with full-body MRI, is a different appointment for people who specifically want brain, MRA, whole-spine and torso imaging, not the default well man upgrade.

New, severe or worsening symptoms still belong with a GP or urgent assessment. Use 999 or A&E for emergencies. A well man MOT is for men who feel well enough to be screened.

Tips and tricks

• Name the question before you book: baseline chemistry and an examination, lungs and hormones, or pelvic ultrasound and PSA. That choice is Essential, Advanced or Elite, not a longer shopping list.
• Bring previous bloods, any PSA figures, clinic letters and a medicines list.
• Advanced and Elite currently ask for a four-hour fast. Your booking confirmation tells you whether to fast for your tier.
• Continue regular medicines unless you were told otherwise.
• For PSA, follow the NHS advice around the test: no ejaculation, anal sex, breathless exercise or cycling in the 48 hours before, and wait until a urine infection has settled.
• Keep the review appointment, because that is when a flag becomes a plan rather than a highlighted line.

Things to avoid

• Do not treat a posted hormone kit as a well man check.
• Do not treat this clinic as a testosterone shop, a gym protocol or a bodybuilding panel.
• Do not assume the longest list is the right assessment, and do not treat PSA, CEA or ultrasound as a cancer all-clear.
• Do not book a screening MOT because you have a new testicular lump, chest pain, urinary obstruction or anything else that is getting worse. That needs a GP or urgent pathway now.
• Do not skip NHS conversations you are already eligible for, including an informed PSA discussion with a GP if that is what you wanted.
• If you want a doctor-led well man check, choose Essential, Advanced or Elite for men.
• Current packages sit on the Health MOT page, or you can call the clinic on 020 7183 7056.

For the prostate question on its own, read private prostate screening versus an NHS PSA conversation. To choose a tier by age, see which Health MOT to start with under 40 or over 40.

Frequently asked questions

What should a well man check include if it is more than a blood form?

A doctor consultation, a physical examination, an ECG, metabolic blood tests and an in-person review of every result. Without those, you have laboratory work, not a check.

Is Essential enough for men under 40?

Usually, yes, if the question is a doctor-led baseline. Essential is £495, lasts about 45 minutes, and includes examination, ECG and metabolic bloods.

What does Elite add for men?

Abdominal, pelvic and testicular ultrasound, a pelvic examination, CEA, and PSA from 40, on top of the Advanced work. Men currently pay £1,850. Allow two and a half to three hours.

Is a posted male hormone kit a well man check?

No. That is a Blood London laboratory request, not a Health Screening Clinic appointment. It is not this clinic's job, and it does not include an examination or an ECG.

Does a PSA result diagnose prostate cancer?

No. NHS pages are plain that a high PSA does not mean you have cancer. NICE NG12 uses PSA in symptom-led pathways, not as a general screen.

Should I book Ultimate as a more thorough well man check?

Only if you specifically want full-body MRI. More imaging is not automatically a better well man assessment.

What if I have a new or worsening symptom?

See a GP or urgent assessment rather than a screening MOT. Use 999 or A&E for emergencies.

Sources

• NICE. Cardiovascular disease: risk assessment and reduction, including lipid modification (NG238)
• NICE. Suspected cancer: recognition and referral (NG12)
• NHS. PSA test
• UK National Screening Committee. Principles of screening
• UK National Screening Committee. Prostate cancer
• NHS. When to call 999
• The Health Screening Clinic. Essential Health MOT
• The Health Screening Clinic. Elite Health MOT
• The Health Screening Clinic. Prostate screening
• General Medical Council. Medical register, Mohammad Bakhtiar, 4694470

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 Mohammad Bakhtiar

MD, PhD, LRCP, MSc, DHMSA

Clinical Lead

GMC: 4694470

Leading our clinical team with a focus on comprehensive men's health and preventative oncology protocols.

Last reviewed: 25/09/2026