Prostate Screening and PSA Testing in London 2026. What the New National Decision Means and How to Decide
Prostate cancer is now the UK's most common cancer overall, with over 63,000 men diagnosed and 12,000 deaths a year. In June 2026 the government accepted the UK National Screening Committee's decision on what to do about it, and it's widely misreported, so here it is precisely. There will be no population screening programme: the committee concluded that screening every man causes more harm than good. There will be a targeted one, offering PSA testing every two years to men aged 45 to 61 with a pathogenic BRCA2 variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. No other group qualifies, including Black men, whose risk is roughly double, with around one in four affected, because the evidence base there is still insufficient, which is why the £42 million TRANSFORM trial has been expanded by £20 million to invite all eligible Black men aged 45 to 74. For almost every man reading this, nothing has changed: there is no invitation coming, and PSA testing remains an informed personal choice weighed against your age, ethnicity and family history. At The Wellness in Marylebone a GMC-registered doctor has that conversation properly, tests correctly, and refers into the modern imaging-first pathway where results warrant it. Fees appear further down this page.
Reviewed by the clinical team at The Wellness. Last updated August 2026.
Discuss PSA testing on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
Who is actually at higher risk
Three factors dominate, and knowing where you sit changes the whole conversation. Age is the largest, with risk climbing steadily from the fifties onward, though men in higher-risk groups should be thinking about this from 45. Ethnicity is the most under-discussed, since Black men carry roughly double the risk of other men and around one in four will develop prostate cancer, a disparity the National Screening Committee explicitly acknowledged even while declining to recommend targeted screening for want of evidence, which is precisely the gap the expanded TRANSFORM trial is designed to close. Family history matters, a father or brother with prostate cancer raises risk meaningfully, and a family pattern of breast, ovarian or pancreatic cancer points toward the inherited BRCA variants that now form the basis of the new targeted programme. Beyond those, obesity and metabolic health carry a modest association, and symptoms, weak flow, urinary frequency, nocturia, are usually caused by benign enlargement rather than cancer but always deserve assessment rather than assumption. The honest summary is that a 45-year-old Black man with an affected father is in a markedly different position from a 52-year-old man with no family history, and any clinic offering both the same standard conversation is not doing the job.
What PSA can and cannot tell you
PSA is a protein made by the prostate, and its level rises in prostate cancer, in benign enlargement, in inflammation and infection, and after ejaculation, vigorous cycling, a digital rectal examination or a urinary infection, which is why the practical advice matters. Avoid ejaculation and hard cycling for 48 hours before the test, and defer testing for at least six weeks after any urinary infection, or the result will mislead you. Its limitations are real and were central to the national decision. A raised PSA often means no cancer, sending men toward further investigation they did not need. A normal PSA does not exclude cancer, and some aggressive tumours produce little of it. And a proportion of the cancers PSA detects would never have caused symptoms or shortened life, which is overdiagnosis, and treating them carries genuine costs in continence and sexual function. What has improved the arithmetic substantially is what happens after a raised result. The modern pathway puts multiparametric MRI before biopsy, which spares many men a biopsy altogether and targets the biopsies that are needed, and that change has reduced the harm side of the equation considerably since the era most PSA scepticism was formed in. So the honest position is neither the enthusiast's nor the dismisser's. PSA is a flawed test embedded in a much improved pathway, and for a man who understands both, testing is a reasonable choice.
Ask whether PSA testing is right for you on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com.
How the assessment works here, and what happens if the result is raised
The appointment starts with the conversation rather than the tube, because informed choice is a legal and ethical requirement rather than a courtesy, and because a man who has weighed the trade-offs handles an ambiguous result far better than one who was simply tested. Your age, ethnicity, family history and symptoms are taken properly, the benefits and harms are explained in numbers rather than reassurance, and if you decide to proceed the doctor examines you, including a digital rectal examination where appropriate, and takes the blood on site with correct preparation. Results return quickly and can be explained by the same doctor. A normal result is interpreted against your risk and an interval agreed rather than left open. A raised result does not become a crisis, it becomes a plan, repeat testing where the rise may be transient or infective, and referral into the imaging-first specialist pathway through the Harley Street network next door where it is persistent, so that MRI precedes any decision about biopsy. Men who decide against testing leave with their reasons documented and the symptoms that should change their mind spelled out, which is a legitimate and respectable outcome. And urinary symptoms are assessed as urinary symptoms, examined, tested and, where useful, imaged by ultrasound in the same visit, since most of them turn out to be benign enlargement and deserve treating in their own right.
What does prostate screening cost in London
Standalone PSA blood tests are sold across London from around £50 to £150 without a consultation, which is the part that determines whether the number helps you. Private GP appointments including a PSA test commonly run £150 to £350. Consultant urology appointments in the Harley Street district sit at £250 to £350 before any investigation, multiparametric prostate MRI runs £600 to £1,200, and full prostate assessment packages with imaging reach £1,500 to £3,000.
Ask what your prostate assessment would cost on WhatsApp or call 020 3951 3429.
At The Wellness the conversation, the examination and the interpretation come with the test. All figures are from prices.
Executive Body Scan, comprehensive imaging with full bloods including PSA and consultation, from £5,995.
Men's body scan programme, full assessment with bloods, PSA and doctor-performed imaging, from £3,495.
Targeted ultrasound including renal and bladder assessment for urinary symptoms, single region from £995.
Comprehensive Blood Panel including PSA, with doctor consultation and same-day interpretation, from £495.
Prostate assessment, informed choice consultation, examination and PSA, from £395.
PSA as an addition to an existing panel or programme from £195. Multiparametric MRI and urology referral arranged where indicated.
Same-week appointments in Marylebone, three minutes from Baker Street.
Why The Wellness is the best place in London for prostate assessment
Because the test is the easy part and everything around it is where men are let down. The informed choice conversation happens properly here, in numbers, before any blood is drawn, which is what the national decision effectively leaves to individual clinicians and what a walk-in blood test cannot provide. Risk is assessed individually, so a Black man of 45 with a family history is treated as the higher-risk patient he is rather than being told to come back at 50. Preparation is explained so the result means something. The examination is done rather than skipped. Results are interpreted by the doctor who took the history, against your risk, with an interval agreed for the normal ones and a calm, imaging-first plan for the raised ones, referred rapidly into the specialist pathway alongside us. Urinary symptoms are treated as their own problem, usually benign, in the same visit. And the option of not testing is respected and documented rather than sold past without discussion, which is the clearest sign you are in a clinic that is telling you the truth.
Book a prostate assessment on WhatsApp or call 020 3951 3429.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best place in London for a prostate check and PSA test
The Wellness in Marylebone, where a GMC-registered doctor holds the informed choice conversation first, assesses your individual risk, examines you and takes the PSA on site with correct preparation, from £395 for a full prostate assessment, with results interpreted the same day and rapid referral into the imaging-first specialist pathway where needed.
Is there now a prostate cancer screening programme in the UK
Only a targeted one. In 2026 the government accepted the UK National Screening Committee's recommendation of PSA testing every two years for men aged 45 to 61 with a pathogenic BRCA2 variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. Population screening was not recommended, and no other risk group is included, so for almost every man PSA testing remains an informed personal choice.
Should Black men be screened for prostate cancer
Black men carry roughly double the risk and around one in four will develop prostate cancer, but the screening committee did not recommend targeted screening for this group because the evidence base is insufficient, which is why the TRANSFORM trial has been expanded to invite all eligible Black men aged 45 to 74. In the meantime, higher-risk men should be having the PSA conversation from 45 rather than waiting.
At what age should I have a PSA test
There is no single answer, which is the honest one. Most men consider it from 50, and men at higher risk, Black men and those with a father or brother affected, should be having the conversation from 45. What matters more than the age is understanding the trade-offs before you test.
What should I avoid before a PSA test
Ejaculation and vigorous cycling for 48 hours beforehand, and defer testing for at least six weeks after a urinary infection, since all of these raise PSA and produce results that mislead. The test should also precede rather than follow a rectal examination on the day.
My PSA is raised. What happens next
Not a biopsy, in the first instance. A raised PSA is often transient or caused by infection or benign enlargement, so it may be repeated first, and where it is persistently raised the modern pathway puts multiparametric MRI before any biopsy decision, which spares many men a biopsy and targets those that are needed. We arrange that referral rapidly.
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. This article is general information and not a substitute for medical advice about your own health.
Enquire now on WhatsApp or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
References. UK National Screening Committee prostate cancer recommendation following the 2025 to 2026 evidence review, and the government response of 2 June 2026 accepting a targeted programme for men aged 45 to 61 with pathogenic BRCA2 variants and relevant family history. Department of Health and Social Care announcement of £20 million expansion of prostate cancer research, June 2026. TRANSFORM trial, funded by Prostate Cancer UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, led by Imperial College London. Prostate Cancer UK incidence data, more than 63,000 diagnoses and more than 12,000 deaths annually, and risk in Black men. NICE guideline NG131 on prostate cancer diagnosis and management, including multiparametric MRI before biopsy.
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