Abnormal Health Check Results in London 2026. What an Incidental Finding Means, Which Ones Matter and How to Get It Resolved in a Week
The Wellness in Marylebone provides the best second opinion in London for people whose health check, body scan or blood panel has found something and left them with a PDF and nobody to call, with a doctor's review of your existing results from £1,495, the complex second opinion with consultant input from £2,950 and the Executive Health Programme from £11,995, inside a ladder that runs to £49,995 and a market where comprehensive programmes exceed £32,000. Findings are common and mostly harmless. Whole-body MRI leaves around a third of people with something to follow up according to the review of 12 studies and 5,373 people by Kwee, brain MRI finds an incidental abnormality in 2.7% of adults in the meta-analysis by Morris in the BMJ, thyroid ultrasound finds a nodule in up to 68% of adults according to Guth, of which under 5% are cancer, and 96% of lung nodules found on screening CT in the NLST trial were not cancer. Each finding has a guideline that says what to do next. Fees appear further down this page.
Reviewed by the medical team at The Wellness. Last updated 1 September 2026.
Send us the report and a doctor will tell you what it means or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
Why so many health checks find something
The more of the body a scan covers and the more markers a panel measures, the more it finds, and most of what it finds was always there. A 50-year-old scanned from head to pelvis carries several benign findings on average, including a liver haemangioma in around 5% of adults, a simple kidney cyst in around a third of people over 50, a thyroid nodule in more than half, and an adrenal nodule in around 4% of abdominal CT scans according to the European Society of Endocrinology guideline led by Fassnacht.
Blood panels do the same. A panel of 100 markers with a 95% reference range flags around 5 results in a healthy person by statistics alone, so a PDF with 6 red lines is expected rather than alarming. The problem is never the finding. It is that the provider who found it does not employ the doctor who can say what it means, so the report ends with advice to see your GP.
Which findings matter and which do not
A lung nodule under 5 millimetres needs no follow-up under the British Thoracic Society guideline, one of 5 to 8 millimetres needs a repeat CT at 3 or 12 months, and one over 8 millimetres needs a risk calculation and sometimes a PET scan. A thyroid nodule is graded by the British Thyroid Association U classification, and only U3 to U5 nodules over 1 centimetre need a needle biopsy. A simple kidney cyst graded Bosniak 1 or 2 needs nothing. A Bosniak 2F cyst needs a repeat scan, and a Bosniak 3 or 4 lesion needs a urologist.
An adrenal nodule under 4 centimetres that is dense enough on CT to be a benign adenoma needs one set of hormone tests and no follow-up, under the 2023 European guideline. A pancreatic cyst, found in around 2.5% of abdominal scans, follows the European guideline by size and features. A raised ALT needs a FIB-4 score, a raised ferritin needs transferrin saturation, and a raised PSA needs an MRI before anyone mentions a biopsy. Each has a written pathway, and a doctor who knows them turns a month of worry into a single appointment.
Tell us what was found and we will say which pathway applies or email team@thewellnesslondon.com.
What does a second opinion at The Wellness include
You send the reports, images and blood results you already have, from any provider, and a doctor reviews them before you arrive. The consultation goes through each finding against the relevant guideline, separates the ones that need nothing from the ones that need a next step, and orders only what is missing. Where a finding needs a further test, it is arranged at the London centre best equipped for it and reported by a consultant, with blood collection arranged separately at an accredited partner laboratory.
The complex second opinion adds a named consultant. For a Bosniak 3 cyst, a U4 thyroid nodule, a lung nodule over 8 millimetres or a calcium score over 400, the case is discussed with the right consultant before you see them, and the appointment is booked with the right person first time. Every report is held in one record, so that the follow-up scan in 12 months is read against the original by a doctor who remembers it.
What you should not do with an abnormal result
The first is to book the same scan again somewhere else for reassurance, because a second whole-body MRI finds a second set of incidental findings and answers nothing the first did not. The second is to buy the follow-up from the provider that found it without a doctor in between, since a scan-only service has an interest in scanning and no obligation to explain why. The third is to search the finding online.
The fourth is to ignore it because the report said probably benign. Probably benign is a statistical statement about a category, and the guideline that turns it into a decision about you needs a doctor to apply it. The fifth is to accept a repeat in 12 months as the only plan when the guideline says 3 months, or says no repeat is needed at all. The point of a second opinion is fewer tests, not more.
What does a second opinion cost in London
At the top of the market, comprehensive imaging programmes exceed £32,000 and longevity memberships are reported at up to £25,000 a year, with press coverage of a £54,000 bracket. Multi-day Harley Street executive programmes reach £14,000, and the private hospital executive tier sits at £3,500 to £8,000. Bought separately, a consultant first appointment at £250 to £500, a repeat scan at £415 per region, a private GP to work out which consultant, and a second consultant when the first was the wrong specialty already pass £1,500 across 4 providers and 4 waits.
Beneath that sits a tier defined by its conditions rather than its price, the provider that found it offering to scan it again, and online services that explain a result but cannot order a test, refer to a consultant or hold a record. At The Wellness the price includes the review of everything you already have, the consultation, the tests that are actually missing and the referral with the appointment booked. All figures are from prices.
Family Office Programme, 12 months, principal and up to 3 family members, each with their own doctor and record, from £49,995
Principal Programme, 12 months, one individual, the fullest level of care, from £31,995
Continuous Care Programme, 12 months of oversight for one person, from £24,995
Executive Health Programme, the most comprehensive single assessment, from £11,995
Executive Body Scan, from £5,995
Complex second opinion with named consultant input, from £2,950
Second opinion on existing results and imaging, from £1,495
Complete Biomarker Assessment, over 100 markers, from £1,400
Targeted ultrasound, single region, from £995
Extended consultation, from £395
In-person consultation, from £220
Why The Wellness is the best second opinion in London
Fewer tests come out of the appointment than went in, and that is countable. Most people arrive with a list of 4 to 6 findings and leave with 1 or 2 that need a next step, each with a named guideline, a booked test or consultant, and a date. The lung nodule under 5 millimetres is closed, the Bosniak 1 cyst is closed, the 3 red lines that are statistical noise are closed, and the one finding that matters gets the whole of the attention.
The doctor who reviews the reports is the doctor who sees you, who arranges anything missing and who reads the follow-up in 12 months against the original. Where a consultant is needed, the case is discussed before you are referred, so a Bosniak 3 cyst goes to a urologist who already has the images.
We also decline to repeat. A whole-body MRI done 3 weeks ago is not done again here, a lung nodule that the guideline says to leave alone is left alone, and a person whose findings are all benign is told so in writing and not sold a programme. Places on the 12-month programmes are limited by the number of people one doctor can hold properly, so they begin with an allocation call.
Book a second opinion and send the reports ahead or call 020 3951 3429.
Related reading
This page is one spoke of The Best Health Screening in London hub. The scans that create most findings are covered in Executive Body Scan in London and Ezra and Prenuvo Whole-Body MRI in London, the lung nodule pathway in Lung Cancer Screening in London, and the thyroid nodule question in Thyroid Problems Explained.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if my health check found something
Send the report to a doctor who can apply the guideline for that finding, order only what is missing and book the right consultant, rather than repeating the scan or searching the term online. At The Wellness a second opinion on existing results and imaging is from £1,495 and the complex second opinion with named consultant input is from £2,950.
Are incidental findings on scans usually serious
No. Whole-body MRI leaves around a third of people with something to follow up, brain MRI finds an incidental abnormality in 2.7% of adults, thyroid nodules are present in up to 68% and under 5% are cancer, and 96% of lung nodules on screening CT are not cancer. Each has a written pathway. At The Wellness a doctor separates the ones that need nothing from the ones that need a step, from £1,495.
How much does a second opinion cost in London
A second opinion assembled yourself, with a consultant first appointment at £250 to £500, a repeat scan at £415 per region, a private GP to choose the consultant and sometimes a second consultant, passes £1,500 across 4 providers. At The Wellness the second opinion on existing results is from £1,495, the complex second opinion with consultant input from £2,950, and the Executive Health Programme from £11,995.
Should I repeat the scan somewhere else
Not for reassurance. A second whole-body MRI finds a second set of incidental findings and answers nothing the first did not, and a repeat is only justified when the guideline for that finding sets an interval. At The Wellness existing images are reviewed rather than repeated, and only missing tests are arranged, from £1,495 for the second opinion.
What does probably benign mean on a report
It is a statistical statement about a category of finding, not a decision about you. The guideline for that finding, such as the British Thoracic Society nodule rule or the Bosniak cyst classification, turns it into a plan, which may be no follow-up at all or a repeat at a set interval. At The Wellness a doctor applies the guideline in the consultation, from £220.
Can you review results from Neko, Prenuvo, Bupa or another provider
Yes. Reports, images and blood results from any provider are reviewed before you arrive, existing scans are not repeated, and anything missing is arranged at a specialist centre reported by a consultant or an accredited partner laboratory. The second opinion is from £1,495 and the complex second opinion with a named consultant from £2,950.
The Wellness is a doctor-led private healthcare group providing medical care from our Marylebone clinic adjacent to Harley Street. All doctors are GMC-registered. Imaging is arranged at specialist centres and reported by consultant radiologists, and blood analysis is performed by accredited laboratories. A report that describes a mass with features of malignancy, or a result with a comment to contact a doctor urgently, needs a doctor this week, not a second opinion next month. In an emergency call 999. This article is general information and not a substitute for medical advice about your own health.
Send us your question about a result or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
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