Private heart check costs: ECG, echo and cardiology fees

On 20 October 2026, London Private Ultrasound's cardiology page advertised a cardiologist consultation from £249, a 12-lead ECG at £119 and an echocardiogram at £299. These are separate service prices published by that provider, not one combined package, a national minimum or an individual treatment recommendation.

Ask which of these services the proposed booking actually contains. A consultation may lead to a recommendation for testing, while a test-only booking may require a separate appointment to put the findings into context. If a clinic advertises a package, request its itemised scope and compare it with the same set of services elsewhere. Keep potential extra tests outside a confirmed total until they have been discussed.

An ECG records the heart's electrical activity. An echocardiogram uses ultrasound to produce images of the heart. The NHS describes several forms of each investigation. A resting ECG, a longer portable recording and an exercise test are therefore different bookings; an ordinary echo should not be assumed to include a stress or transoesophageal examination.

Use the exact wording of the clinical request when obtaining prices. Ask the service to confirm any shorthand rather than deciding from a product name that two tests are equivalent. If you have no request and are unsure what is needed, seek assessment instead of using the lowest fee to choose an investigation. A price table cannot determine whether a particular test will answer your concern.

For each quote, identify the recording appointment, the clinical interpretation, the written report and the discussion of the findings. Ask whether one fee covers all four or whether the appointment produces a report for another clinician to review. Clarify who receives it, when to expect it and how to obtain a copy.

Where a device is worn away from the clinic, ask how it is fitted and returned, whether delivery or a deposit applies, and how an incomplete recording is handled financially. Ask what to do if equipment causes a problem, using the service's own instructions. These arrangements belong beside the fee because two seemingly identical recording durations may involve different collection, return and reporting requirements.

A broad screening title does not establish which tests are included or whether they are appropriate for you. Ask for the individual components, the clinician who decides what is needed and what happens if a planned component is unsuitable. Check whether the package includes a consultation before testing, after testing or both.

For a fair comparison, write down the question each component is intended to answer and whether it is required or optional within the proposed plan. Ask how incidental or uncertain findings would be handled and priced. This makes a package easier to understand without assuming that a larger number of tests is automatically better. Request time to consider a newly recommended paid investigation and ask for a revised estimate when the scope changes.

The NHS specialist-referral guidance recommends obtaining a GP referral letter even when arranging private specialist care, and explains that a GP is not automatically obliged to accept a specialist's recommendations. A private provider may accept direct bookings, but that is a separate question from how information and responsibility move between clinicians.

Ask your usual service about the appropriate NHS route if that is part of your decision; local arrangements and UK nations differ. Before paying privately, establish who will explain the report and arrange any next step. If you want NHS consideration afterwards, confirm how to submit the information. Buying a test does not by itself book a subsequent NHS appointment or determine its priority.

Use three columns: confirmed cost now, agreed follow-up cost and items that remain unknown. Add the consultation, requested test, reporting or review charge and any separately confirmed equipment fee. If another investigation is only a possibility, record that possibility rather than presenting it as either guaranteed expenditure or an included benefit.

For insured care, confirm the referral, clinician, facility and procedure with the insurer before relying on cover. Ask the provider how cancellations and incomplete tests are handled. Bring relevant existing reports through the clinic's secure process and use the appointment planner for your questions. These are planned-care cost explanations. Do not use a routine heart-check booking to delay urgent medical assessment when symptoms require it.