Frequently asked questions

No. You do not need a referral from your NHS GP or a private doctor to book a test with The Livewell Syndicate. You can choose the health markers you want to check and book directly. That said, if you are experiencing severe or unexplained symptoms, we would always encourage you to consult a doctor as well.

It depends on the specific test you have ordered. Some tests, including certain cholesterol panels and blood glucose markers, require you to fast for 8 to 12 hours beforehand, drinking only water. Other tests require no preparation at all. You will receive clear, specific instructions when you book, and preparation requirements are also displayed on each product page. If you are in any doubt, contact us before collecting your sample.

We primarily provide diagnostic blood testing for adults. Depending on the test and the circumstances, we may be able to accommodate older teenagers. Patients aged 16 and 17 have presumed capacity to consent to their own medical treatment under UK law, whereas children under 16 must be assessed as Gillick competent or have valid consent from an adult with Parental Responsibility. Please contact our team directly if you are enquiring for a patient under the age of 18 so that we can discuss our consent and safeguarding protocols.

For routine, low-risk phlebotomy on an adult who clearly understands the procedure, verbal consent is perfectly acceptable. Written and signed consent is required where the patient is under 18, where the test involves highly sensitive data such as genetic testing or HIV screening, or where you request that your results be shared with a third party.

Prior to any testing taking place, you will be explicitly asked about severe allergies, including reactions to latex or specific skin preparation products. If you have been prescribed an emergency adrenaline auto-injector such as an EpiPen for a severe, life-threatening allergy, you must bring it with you to your appointment. Our clinical team will not proceed without confirming this.

As a private, elective diagnostic and screening service, we require all adult patients to have the mental capacity to consent to their own procedures under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We cannot carry out elective diagnostic procedures on adults who lack capacity. A family member cannot legally consent to an invasive physical procedure on another adult's behalf unless they hold a specific, verified Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). If a patient cannot consent, the appointment will not proceed and we would encourage families to consult the patient's NHS GP for any clinically necessary testing.

We support proactive health monitoring and many of our clients test regularly. However, we are bound by a clinical duty of care and safeguarding frameworks. If we have reason to believe that testing is excessive, clinically unjustified, or indicative of a psychological compulsion such as severe health anxiety or Body Dysmorphic Disorder, we reserve the right to decline the blood draw. This is a safeguarding measure, not a commercial one.

We offer four ways to collect your sample, designed to suit different preferences and circumstances. All four options deliver your results to BloodGPT, our secure online results portal.

• Finger prick home kit — We post a kit directly to you for self-collection at home. Simple, fast, and suitable for a wide range of biomarkers.
• Intravenous home kit — We post a venous collection kit to your address and you arrange a local phlebotomist to draw your sample. Suitable where a venous draw is required but you prefer not to travel to our clinic.
• Mobile nurse — We arrange a trained, insured nurse to visit you at your home or workplace through our nationwide mobile nurse network.
• Clinic visit — You can attend our clinic in Hull in person. Our clinical team will carry out the blood draw and all relevant checks on site.

Absolutely. Our mobile nurses follow exactly the same Infection Prevention and Control standards and clinical protocols in your home as they do in our clinic. All clinical waste and sharps are removed from your property by our team. We do not permit the disposal of blood-contaminated clinical waste in a domestic household bin.

Finger prick tests are clinically appropriate for a wide range of biomarkers and are used routinely in both NHS and private settings. However, certain markers, including hormones such as testosterone and cortisol, are more reliably measured from a venous sample. If accuracy on a specific marker is important to you, a venous draw via our mobile nurse or clinic is the better option. Our team can advise you before you order if you are unsure which collection method suits your chosen test.

Yes. Our finger prick and intravenous home kits are dispatched nationwide. Our mobile nurse network also operates beyond Hull, so nurse-assisted venous draws are available in many areas of the UK. Contact us to confirm coverage in your location before booking.

UKAS is the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, the national body responsible for assessing the competence of organisations that provide testing and calibration services. ISO 15189 is the international standard specifically for medical laboratories, covering sample handling, analytical processes, staff competence, and result reporting. Accreditation to this standard means that an independent body has assessed and confirmed the laboratory meets rigorous quality and competence requirements. Not every private testing provider works exclusively with ISO 15189 accredited laboratories. The Livewell Syndicate does.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. CQC registration means that The Livewell Syndicate has demonstrated it meets the fundamental standards of quality and safety required by law to operate as a healthcare provider. For you as a consumer, it means there is a statutory regulatory body with oversight of how we operate, and a formal mechanism through which concerns can be raised if they ever need to be.

Private blood testing as part of a corporate wellbeing programme gives employers early visibility of workforce health trends that are otherwise invisible until they become problems. Conditions including anaemia, thyroid dysfunction, elevated cholesterol, and vitamin deficiencies are common, frequently asymptomatic, and directly impact energy levels, concentration, and productivity. Identifying these issues proactively is significantly less expensive than managing extended sick leave, supporting long-term absence, or losing key personnel to illnesses that could have been caught earlier. Beyond operational benefit, demonstrating genuine investment in employee health is an increasingly important factor in talent acquisition and retention in a competitive labour market.

Yes. Private blood testing sits clearly within the definition of a health screening assessment for HMRC purposes and can be offered as a tangible, valued employee benefit at a relatively modest cost per head compared to most private healthcare benefits. It is a benefit employees can see, use, and understand, which improves uptake and perceived value relative to benefits that are rarely accessed.

We offer complete flexibility. Our mobile nursing team can set up a secure, pop-up phlebotomy clinic directly at your office or premises, minimising staff downtime and maximising participation. Alternatively, we can provide your business with corporate booking codes, allowing employees to visit our Hull clinic or use a home collection kit at a time that suits them. For geographically dispersed workforces, a combination of on-site visits and home kits can be arranged.

Very little. To ensure patient privacy and clinical safety, all we require is a clean, well-lit, private room such as a meeting room, with a desk, two chairs, and access to a handwashing sink nearby. Our mobile team brings all clinical equipment, infection control supplies, and secure clinical waste containers. The room will be left exactly as we found it.

A standard blood draw takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes per person. Depending on the size of the nursing team we deploy to your site, we can comfortably screen between 30 and 50 employees per day. For larger organisations, we can run multi-day programmes across single or multiple sites.

Yes. We work with businesses ranging from small owner-managed companies to larger national organisations. Our B2B programmes scale accordingly. Whether you are testing a single director or rolling out a programme across a workforce of several hundred, we can scope a solution that fits your requirements and budget.

No. We adhere strictly to UK GDPR and medical confidentiality obligations. Individual test results are highly confidential and are delivered securely and exclusively to the employee via BloodGPT. We will never share personal health data, individual results, or any identifying health information with an employer or HR department without the explicit, written, and signed consent of the individual employee. This is non-negotiable and forms part of our standard corporate service agreement.

For larger screening programmes, we can provide your organisation with an anonymised aggregate report. All identifying information is removed. We provide high-level data on overall workforce health trends, for example the proportion of employees with suboptimal Vitamin D levels or elevated cardiovascular risk markers. This allows your HR or wellbeing teams to design targeted future health initiatives without any breach of individual privacy.