Fleet Street Laboratory

The Fleet Street Clinic is one of the only medical practices in London or throughout the UK to offer PCR laboratory testing on its own premises, at point of patient care. This means that using our own Fleet Street Laboratory, we can offer our patients the fastest possible turnaround for results.

For COVID-19, we have no fewer than five different testing “platforms” – sophisticated instruments using advanced technology. This makes our service resilient, flexible and reliable, ensuring that we can meet the most demanding requirements.

It is also scalable and portable, which has enabled us to support some of the most complex work and travel-related projects over recent months – including film production in the UK and internationally, critical projects and VIP groups. For people with upper respiratory symptoms, our testing options include “syndromic testing” – screening for an entire panel of other infections at the same time, pinpointing the exact cause and explanation: cold viruses, flu, even Legionnaires’ disease.

Our point-of-care PCR service was established in 2017, well before the current pandemic. In addition to upper respiratory symptoms, we also carry out syndromic testing for gastrointestinal infections in returning travellers – more than 22 possible causes can be identified on a single stool swab. Point-of-care testing is also possible for sexually transmitted infections. These parts of our service have taken a back seat during the pandemic but are likely to return to the fore as things return to “normal”.

Our service is supported by a team of laboratory technicians, under the direct supervision of biomedical scientists and independent consultants. We are listed by the Department of Health and Social Care for general and travel-related coronavirus testing.