Women’s Private STI Screening in London

The Standard screening is £559 and the Advanced screening is £829, both all-inclusive. That covers the samples, the laboratory work, the pelvic ultrasound, the GP appointment, the medication review and your written report.

Private STI test prices in London range from around £100 to several hundred, and the spread reflects what is bundled in. Lower prices generally cover the laboratory panel alone, without imaging or a doctor. Comparing the inclusions gives a more useful picture than comparing headline figures.

Two samples cover the entire laboratory panel: one blood draw from the arm for the serology, and one urine sample that you provide yourself in private. No vaginal swab is collected and there is no internal examination for the samples.

A pelvic ultrasound is then performed over the lower abdomen, and a GP appointment completes the visit. Allow around 60 to 90 minutes in total. Try not to pass urine for at least an hour beforehand, ideally two, since the urine tests work best on a first-void sample and a comfortably full bladder improves the scan.

Yes. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea are detected in women from a urine sample using the same molecular NAAT technology used everywhere, and the same sample carries the extended organisms in the Advanced panel.

It is worth knowing the trade-off. In women, a urine sample is somewhat less sensitive than a sample taken from the vagina, so a negative result carries slightly less certainty. The blood tests for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis are unaffected and perform identically regardless of sex.

Your GP appointment exists partly to tell you which of those two situations you are in. If your result settles the question, you will be told that. If it does not — because you have symptoms it would not explain, or a partner has tested positive — you will be told that too, and pointed towards the most sensitive test, which NHS sexual health services provide free of charge.

Symptoms determine the choice. Standard covers women without symptoms who want routine or precautionary screening: HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, plus the pelvic ultrasound and the GP appointment.

Advanced is designed for women who do have symptoms, such as unusual discharge, pelvic or lower abdominal pain, pain during sex, pain on passing urine, bleeding between periods or after sex, soreness or itching. It widens the panel to eleven organisms, adds urinary tract imaging, and includes a free phone consultation before you book so you are not guessing. If you are unsure which applies, call 020 7101 3377 and the team will help you decide.

Because in women the symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection overlap heavily with conditions a laboratory panel cannot see. Pelvic pain, unusual discharge, pain during sex and irregular bleeding can be caused by infection, but also by ovarian cysts, fibroids, endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease.

A negative infection panel on its own leaves those symptoms unexplained, which is the position many women find themselves in after a postal kit comes back clear. The scan assesses the uterus, ovaries and pelvis in the same appointment, so you leave with an answer.

Ultrasound findings are explained on the day, before you leave. The Standard laboratory panel returns in two working days and the Advanced panel in four working days.

Results are not same-day. Same-day appointments are frequently available.

Chlamydia and gonorrhoea are generally detectable from about two weeks after exposure. Most HIV infections are detected by four weeks on a fourth-generation test, with a negative result at 45 days taken as conclusive. Syphilis is often detectable from three to four weeks, with a repeat at twelve weeks advised to exclude it fully. Hepatitis B and C can take up to three months.

If you have symptoms now, do not wait for a window period to pass. Be seen sooner and say what you are experiencing. And if you may have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours, go to A&E or an NHS sexual health clinic immediately rather than booking a test.

Yes. In the UK, NHS antenatal care routinely offers screening for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B to every pregnant woman as part of the booking appointment. This is free, is a standard part of antenatal care, and you do not need to arrange it privately.

Chlamydia screening is not part of the routine antenatal offer for everyone, though it is offered to women under 25 through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme. If you have symptoms or a known exposure at any point in the pregnancy, speak to your midwife or GP.

The routine NHS antenatal screening bloods, which include HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, are usually offered at the booking appointment, typically between eight and twelve weeks of pregnancy.

If you decline at booking you can request the tests later in the pregnancy. If you develop symptoms at any stage, or a partner tests positive, speak to your midwife or GP rather than waiting for the next scheduled appointment.

Tell us when you book. The blood and urine tests themselves are safe in pregnancy, but your NHS antenatal screening already covers HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B free of charge, so paying privately for the same tests rarely makes sense.

Pelvic ultrasound in pregnancy is a different examination with a different purpose, and pregnancy scans are booked as a separate service. If you are pregnant and have symptoms, your midwife, GP or an NHS sexual health clinic is the right first call.

Yes. Bleeding does not affect the blood tests, and the urine sample is still usable. It can make the pelvic ultrasound slightly less comfortable and, depending on where you are in your cycle, some findings are easier to interpret at particular times.

Mention it when you book and the team will tell you whether it is worth timing the appointment differently. If you are bleeding unusually — between periods, after sex, or much more heavily than normal — that is itself a reason to be seen rather than to postpone.

Pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID, is an infection of the upper female genital tract. It most often follows an untreated sexually transmitted infection, particularly chlamydia or gonorrhoea, that has spread upwards from the cervix.

It can cause pelvic pain, unusual discharge, pain during sex, bleeding between periods and fever, and it can also be mild enough to pass unnoticed. Untreated PID is associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy, damage to the fallopian tubes and fertility problems, which is why prompt testing and treatment matter.

PID needs clinical assessment and antibiotic treatment, not testing alone. If it is suspected, that is discussed at your GP appointment and referral arranged where appropriate.

In practice they describe the same infections and the same laboratory tests. STI is the term now generally preferred, because an infection can be present without ever causing disease or symptoms.

Whether you searched for an STI test, an STD test, a sexual health check or a GUM clinic, this is the service you are looking for.

Yes. Chlamydia in particular is frequently symptomless in women, and the absence of symptoms does not confirm the absence of infection. Untreated, it can ascend and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which carries consequences for future fertility.

The Standard package exists for exactly this situation: routine or precautionary screening for the four infections covered by standard UK screening, alongside a pelvic ultrasound and a doctor to interpret the result.

For routine screening without symptoms they are a reasonable option, they are widely available in the UK and they are free through many NHS services.

The differences are practical: you take your own samples and sampling errors are invisible, turnaround depends on the post as well as the laboratory, nobody examines you, there is no imaging, and a positive result arrives without a clinician attached to it.

Where you have symptoms — particularly pelvic pain, pain during sex or irregular bleeding — a clinic appointment gives you examination, pelvic imaging and a doctor in one visit, and a postal kit cannot provide any of the three.

No. You can book directly, and nothing is shared with your NHS GP unless you ask us to send it. A referral letter with confirmed results is provided where onward specialist care is appropriate.

Yes. Results are not shared with your NHS GP, employer or insurer without your consent.

Samples, scans and consultations take place in private rooms within a diagnostic clinic that runs scans and blood tests all day, so nothing about attending identifies why you are there. Records are held securely under UK data protection law and the clinic is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You are contacted and the result is explained to you by a doctor. Some infections, such as chlamydia, are straightforward to treat.

Others, including HIV, syphilis, gonorrhoea and hepatitis B and C, are managed within specialist NHS sexual health services, and you are given a referral letter with confirmed results so that care starts without repeating the whole process. Partner notification is discussed at the same appointment, and NHS services can do this anonymously on your behalf if you would prefer.

No. HPV testing and cervical screening are a separate pathway and are not part of either package. In the UK, cervical screening is offered through the NHS programme from age 25, and that remains the route to use.

Genital warts and other skin lesions are diagnosed by clinical examination rather than by this panel, so point out anything visible at your appointment.

Treatment and any medication arising from your results are priced separately. Throat and rectal swabs are not part of the standard panels. HPV testing, cervical screening, fertility testing and hormone panels are not included.

The screening also does not collect a vaginal sample, which is covered in detail further up this page.

Yes. NHS sexual health and GUM services provide STI testing and treatment free of charge, including postal self-sampling kits in many areas, and treatment for a diagnosed infection is also free. You do not need to be registered with a GP and you can attend a clinic anywhere in the country.

What NHS clinics do not usually include is pelvic imaging within the same appointment, and waiting times vary considerably by area. Private screening buys speed, pelvic imaging and a single appointment. The laboratory tests themselves are the same.

Seek urgent care rather than booking a routine appointment if you have severe lower abdominal or pelvic pain, a fever alongside pelvic pain, heavy vaginal bleeding, pain with a positive pregnancy test, or an inability to pass urine.

And if you may have been exposed to HIV within the last 72 hours, go to A&E or an NHS sexual health clinic immediately. Post-exposure prophylaxis is time-critical, and a screening test cannot help you inside that window.

London Private Ultrasound has two clinics. Central London is at 27 Welbeck Street, W1G 8EN, in the Harley Street Medical District, a short walk from Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Marylebone. St Albans is at 54–56 Victoria Street, AL1 3HZ.

Both are open seven days a week, 9am to 7pm, with same-day appointments frequently available. Call 020 7101 3377 or book online.