What employees actually receive from a workplace health screen

You have usually arrived here because HR has put a health screen, annual medical or staff MOT in your diary, and the two questions that matter to you are what happens on the day and who reads the report afterwards. This piece is for the person attending. The question of which programme to buy belongs with the employer.

The email rarely says, in a sentence you could repeat, whether you are going to 117a Harley Street or sitting in a meeting room while a clinic team runs an office day. It rarely says whether a scan is part of the visit, or whether the document that leaves the building is your clinical file or a one-line summary. Until those answers are clear, you do not yet know what you are consenting to.

The clinical report is yours

At The Health Screening Clinic, individual clinical reports go to the employee.

Your employer receives only consented summaries: a fit-to-work letter, confirmation that you attended, or a structured corporate report of the kind that was scoped before you arrived. Paying the invoice does not convert your clinical findings into an HR attachment.

GMC confidentiality guidance on disclosing information for employment, insurance and similar purposes is built around consent, relevance, and not sending a whole record when a limited opinion will do. The Information Commissioner's Office treats workers' health information as special category data under UK GDPR. A manager who asks you to "just forward the PDF" is asking for something the clinic has not already sent.

Ask, before anyone takes blood or a cuff goes on, exactly which summary the employer will receive and whether you will see it first. GMC guidance expects doctors to offer to show you, or give you a copy of, a report written about you for employment purposes before it is sent, unless a narrow exception applies. If that answer is vague, wait until it is not, because a summary you have not been told about is still a disclosure.

This is medical confidentiality, not office etiquette. The doctor in the room is your doctor for that appointment, so the conversation about medicines, alcohol, family history and what you are afraid they will find belongs there. If you are worried that honesty will reach work, stop and confirm the reporting route rather than inventing a healthier version of yourself.

What the day looks like

You will be seen at 117a Harley Street or, if your employer has booked an office day, at your workplace, and both settings are doctor-led. Onsite delivery is for cohorts of five staff or more, subject to space, equipment and clinical scope, so a smaller team is more likely to be asked to attend the clinic.

Harley Street is the quieter version, with private consulting rooms, a separate executive lounge for some visits, and pathology on site. Same-day clinic appointments exist when capacity allows, which is a different diary from an office screening day. If you have been given a Harley Street slot, expect time in a consulting room, not a shared workplace session with portable kit.

An office day is a workforce visit. The team arrives with portable equipment for the tests that can travel: blood pressure, urinalysis, and, where the employer has scoped them, investigations such as an ECG, spirometry, hearing, vision, or a drug and alcohol panel. Blood samples, if they are part of your package, are taken on site and couriered to laboratory partners the same day. A manager does not sit in, and results do not go to a shared inbox, unless that is what you have consented to. Do not assume it is.

Imaging is not done in the office. Chest X-ray, MRI and ultrasound, when they are in scope at all, are completed at partner centres a few minutes' walk from Harley Street. If your email says screening at the office and also mentions a scan, you should expect two locations, not one room with a portable X-ray machine.

Embassy, leadership and high-profile cohorts can have named-doctor liaison and encrypted report delivery to a single nominated contact. That is a discretion arrangement, not a reason for the clinical file to bypass you. You still receive the individual report.

What is in the appointment

Do not guess the package from the words health MOT. Corporate workforce screening and a personal Health MOT are different commissions even when they share a building.

The corporate Essential workforce screen, currently from £210 per employee, is a doctor's physical examination, blood pressure and pulse, urinalysis, a lifestyle and cardiovascular risk discussion, and an express written report. That is the core every corporate tier sits on. Higher employer tiers add investigations the company asked for, so ask HR what was bought rather than guessing a menu.

If your employer booked a personal Health MOT tier for staff, that is a different appointment from the corporate Essential screen. The personal Health MOT packages are built as preventative assessments with a results review, and the entry Essential Health MOT is not the same product as the workforce Essential. Ask HR, in writing, which package was commissioned, by name. If they cannot tell you, ask the clinic on the day before anyone starts, since consent is for a defined piece of work.

On the day itself you should expect a conversation and a physical examination, not only a form and a sample. Bring glasses, inhalers, a list of medicines, and any recent GP or clinic letters. Fast only if you were told to for the tests in your package, and continue regular medicines unless you were instructed otherwise. You do not need a GP referral to attend a screen your employer has already booked.

Questions about fasting, how long the visit takes, and what happens if something is found also sit on the clinic FAQ. The FAQ cannot tell you which package HR bought. Only HR, or the confirmation the clinic sent you, can do that.

A flag is not a diagnosis

Laboratories and examination forms mark results against a range or a finding that needs a conversation. UK National Screening Committee language is useful here, even though this is not a national screening programme. Screening identifies apparently healthy people who may have an increased chance of a condition. A positive or out-of-range result usually means further tests, not a disease. A raised blood pressure on the day, blood or protein in urine, or a later laboratory flag is information. It is not a verdict on your job, and it is not a diagnosis you should announce to a team chat.

You cannot fail a preventative screen in the everyday sense, unless someone asked in advance for a fitness-to-work opinion and you consented to that being the job. An abnormal result might mean a repeat test, a letter you can take to your NHS GP, or a referral. It does not mean you have been marked unfit.

No screen of this kind replaces care for a symptom you already have. Chest pain, sudden breathlessness, a breast lump, blood in urine, collapse, or a mental health crisis need the pathway those problems already have. Use 999 or A&E for emergencies. Do not wait for a workplace screening day, and do not treat an office medical as a substitute for urgent care.

Tips and tricks

• Ask HR which package was commissioned, and whether you are attending Harley Street, an office day, or both because a scan sits at a partner centre.
• Ask, before the cuff goes on, what the employer will receive: attendance, a fit-to-work sentence, a structured summary, or nothing further without your consent.
• Ask whether you will see that summary first.
• Say what you do, drink, take and worry about, because that is how a doctor makes the examination useful.
• If a named doctor has been assigned because you are in an embassy or high-profile cohort, use that channel rather than copying a clinical letter to a wider office list.
• Keep your own copy of the clinical report.
• If a finding needs repeating or a specialist opinion, take that copy to your GP, or ask the clinic doctors to review it with you.
• Do not forward the full file to HR because someone asked you to be helpful, unless you have decided that is what you want to send.

Things to avoid

• Do not assume that because work is paying, work owns the results.
• Do not invent a healthier history because you have not yet asked who sees the summary.
• Do not treat an office day as a place where imaging happens, and do not assume a Harley Street executive-lounge visit and a same-day office screen are the same hour in a different postcode.
• Do not confuse the corporate Essential examination with a personal Health MOT, and do not guess a blood-test list from a price you overheard.
• Do not treat a flag as a diagnosis, or a clear screen as permission to ignore a symptom that is already there.
• Do not sit on an emergency because a workplace medical is in the diary.

If you want to book the staff Health MOT yourself, or you need HR to refer you into the programme they commissioned, the employer-facing detail sits on the occupational health page. The clinic can be reached on 020 7183 7056 and can match you to the package your employer bought.

Employers choosing a programme should read what a UK employer should buy as corporate health screening. If you are unsure whether you need a visa or pre-employment medical instead, see visa medical versus occupational medical versus Health MOT.

Frequently asked questions

Who sees my results?

You do. Individual clinical reports go to the employee. Your employer receives only a consented summary, such as a fit-to-work letter, attendance confirmation, or a structured corporate report as scoped.

Will HR get my blood pressure, urine result or blood tests?

Not as a default. Those sit in your clinical report. If a summary goes back to work, it should be the limited document you were told about, and consented to, before the appointment.

What should I expect on the day?

A doctor-led examination at 117a Harley Street or, for five or more staff, an office screening day. Imaging is not done in the office. Partner centres near Harley Street do those tests when they are in the scope.

Is this a medical I can fail?

Usually no. You only fail in the everyday sense if a fitness-to-work or similar opinion was requested in advance and that was the job you consented to. A flag on a preventative screen is not a diagnosis and not a job verdict.

What if my employer booked a personal Health MOT rather than a workforce screen?

Ask HR which package was commissioned, by name. A personal Health MOT, including the Essential Health MOT, is a different appointment from the corporate Essential workforce screen.

What if I feel unwell before or on the day?

A preventative screen is for people who feel well enough to be screened. New, severe or worsening symptoms belong with a GP or urgent care, and 999 or A&E remain the route for emergencies.

Sources

• General Medical Council. Penelope Jane Sheehan, 6056535
• General Medical Council. Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information
• General Medical Council. Confidentiality: disclosing information for employment, insurance and similar purposes
• Information Commissioner's Office. Data protection and workers' health information
• UK National Screening Committee. Principles of screening
• NHS. When to call 999

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 Penny Sheehan

MBBS, MRCGP

General Practitioner

GMC: 6056535

Specialising in women's health, hormonal balance, and menopause management within screening contexts.

Last reviewed: 25/09/2026