Pre-employment medical scope is fitness for a role, not a private MOT

You have a start date, a contract renewal, or an HR email that says you need a medical, and the booking page then offers a pre-employment package, a private MOT, a visa medical and a seafarer PEME as if they were four names for the same hour. They are not. A pre-employment medical at Medical Express Clinic answers a land employer about fitness to work, against four named packages or against the form that employer sent, and it is neither a personal health MOT, an embassy pack nor a seafarer certificate.

Picking the wrong diary is how a candidate sits at 117a Harley Street with a passport and no employer instruction, or how HR receives a cholesterol PDF when they needed a completed occupational form.

What this visit is for

A pre-employment medical here is a doctor-led fitness-to-work assessment for new hires and contract renewals, with occupational health as the sister service. Medical Express Clinic has practised at 117a Harley Street, London W1G 6AT, since 1984 and is CQC-registered. Dr Mohammad Bakhtiar, GMC 4694470, is clinical lead for health screening. The clinic completes the assessment and the form your employer specifies.

Employers use it for health clearance before onboarding. Candidates use it when asked to arrange their own assessment. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 still places duties on employers for employee health, safety and welfare, but a medical is not legally mandatory for every role. Many employers still require one for the job, for insurance, or for written policy. In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 generally stops employers asking health questions before a job offer, so most pre-employment medicals take place after a conditional offer.

Same-week appointments are often available, with report timing confirmed at booking. Appointments run Monday to Friday, and the booked clinic slot starts from 30 minutes.

If you feel unwell, have a new or worsening symptom, or think you may need urgent care, this is the wrong visit. A GP, NHS 111, or 999 and A&E remain the routes for illness and emergencies.

Four packages, or the employer's form

There are four fixed packages, and they are not interchangeable with a screening MOT.

The four land pre-employment packages.

All four include a doctor-led physical examination, blood pressure and pulse check, and urinalysis, unless the employer's form requires additional tests. Higher tiers add vision, hearing, imaging, ECG and blood profiles as listed. Match the package to the written instructions you hold. If those instructions are unclear, send the form before you book rather than guessing a tier.

Standard is the core visit: physical examination, blood pressure and pulse, and urinalysis.

Standard Plus adds visual acuity testing, audiometry (a hearing test) and a chest X-ray. Colour vision testing sits from Standard Plus upward.

Executive adds a resting ECG and a Silver Blood Profile. The chest X-ray from Standard Plus remains included.

Gold Executive uses a Gold Blood Profile instead of the Silver Blood Profile. The resting ECG and chest X-ray are unchanged from Executive.

A bespoke employer form can be emailed before booking so the clinic can confirm whether one of these packages fits or whether extra tests are needed. Do not assume a named package already matches a form the clinic has never seen.

What the doctor examines on the day

Every package includes a structured physical examination. The doctor records findings relevant to fitness for work and completes the employer's form where one has been provided. The examination includes weight, height and body mass index, central nervous system screening, and a musculoskeletal look at general body movement. It includes the heart, with pulse rate and blood pressure, the respiratory system, and the abdomen, including hernia detection. Urinalysis screens for kidney and bladder disorders and for diabetes. Colour vision testing is included from Standard Plus upward.

If fasting is required for the selected blood tests, the clinic will say so before the appointment. Do not invent an overnight fast for a Standard visit that has no bloods.

Employers and candidates use the same clinic differently

Medical Express Clinic works directly with companies that need pre-employment screening for new hires. Forms or a written specification sent in advance let the clinic confirm the correct package, delivery location and report route. Account management and direct invoicing are available for corporate clients, with 30-day credit terms by arrangement.

If you are a candidate whose employer has asked you to arrange your own medical, book the matching package yourself. Bring any forms they provided, or describe their requirements when you book.

If a start date is soon, say the date when you enquire. Same-week appointments are often available, subject to capacity. Report timing is confirmed when the booking specification is agreed.

Employers mobilising staff overseas may also need visa medicals. Those are destination-specific routes, not this land fitness visit.

Extra tests the employer may add

If an employer needs investigations beyond the four packages, Medical Express Clinic can add them. Depending on the specification, tests take place at the Harley Street clinic, on a suitable employer site, or at a nearby specialist partner centre. The clinic coordinates each element and provides the agreed report.

Additional tests may include spirometry, a stress or exercise ECG, MRI and CT imaging, X-ray imaging, drug and alcohol testing, and health surveillance. They sit on the form, or they are agreed in writing before the booking is made. Do not turn up for Standard and expect an MRI to be added on the couch.

What to bring, and how long you are here

Bring valid photo identification, a passport or a driving licence. Bring employer medical forms if they were provided. Bring a list of current medicines, details of any significant medical history, and glasses if you wear them. Declaring a known condition on the day is how a form gets completed honestly.

The booked clinic slot starts from 30 minutes. Additional tests, employer forms or external investigations may need longer, confirmed at booking. Arrive having followed any fasting instruction you were given.

PEME and cruise-ship medicals are a different path

PEME is a separate service, from £450, with the final price confirmed from your company forms. They are not one of the four land packages. If the letter names a PEME, a seafarer medical or a cruise-ship medical, say so when you enquire and send the company forms. Do not book a land pre-employment tier and expect it to be rewritten as a maritime certificate on the day.

This clinic does not issue ENG1. ENG1 is the UK statutory seafarer medical fitness certificate, issued only by a doctor on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Approved Doctor list. If the employer, the manning agency or the flag state asked for ENG1, you need that pathway, not this appointment.

As that separate service, the clinic can complete company PEME forms you were sent. Some people need both an employer PEME and a statutory ENG1 from an MCA-approved doctor. Distance from a hospital is part of the seafarer question, not of a Standard office clearance.

This is not a private MOT and not a visa medical

A health screening is a preventative assessment for someone who feels well enough to be screened. The report belongs to the individual. A clear MOT is not a fitness-to-work certificate, and a completed pre-employment form is not a personal screening pack.

A visa medical asks whether a foreign office will accept the health papers they asked you to bring. A start-date medical for an office, a warehouse, a school or a hospital in the United Kingdom is occupational clearance, not an embassy certificate.

The clinic can do all three kinds of work, but it cannot file one certificate as another, so bring the letter, because the word medical is not enough.

Tips and tricks

• Match a package to the employer's written instructions, or send the form so the clinic can confirm the tests, the location and the appointment length.
• Standard is examination, blood pressure, pulse and urinalysis.
• Standard Plus adds vision, hearing and a chest X-ray, with colour vision from that tier up.
• Executive adds a resting ECG and a Silver Blood Profile.
• Gold Executive keeps that ECG and chest X-ray and uses a Gold Blood Profile.
• If you are an employer, ask about account management and direct invoicing, with 30-day credit terms by arrangement.
• If you are a candidate, book the matching package and bring photo identification, the forms, a medicine list, significant history and glasses if you wear them.
• Say the start date when you enquire, since same-week appointments are often available and report timing is confirmed at booking.
• If the letter names a PEME, a cruise-ship medical or ENG1, stop and change diary.
• PEME is a separate service, from £450, with the final price confirmed from your company forms.
• This clinic does not issue ENG1.

Things to avoid

• Do not book a private MOT because you needed occupational clearance, and do not book a land pre-employment package because you needed a seafarer form or an embassy certificate.
• Do not guess a tier when the employer sent a form the clinic has not seen.
• Do not add spirometry, a stress ECG, MRI, CT, drug and alcohol testing or health surveillance because a colleague had them, unless the specification names those extras.
• Do not arrive without photo identification, the employer forms, a medicine list or glasses you need for a vision test.
• Do not invent fasting rules.
• Do not sit on a medical emergency because a workplace medical is already in the diary: 999 and A&E remain the route for life-threatening illness.

If you do want a land pre-employment medical, the details sit on the pre-employment medical screening page, or you can contact the clinic on 020 7499 1991.

Related guides: choosing between a visa medical, pre-employment medical and PEME and employer healthcare versus individual screening.