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What is Health Screening?

Health screening is the process of looking at a population perceived to be at risk from a condition to try to to identify those who may be at a higher risk of developing a disease and in whom an intervention may be made. The principle behind health screening is that identifying and treating a condition at an earlier stage improves and prolongs an individuals health and wellbeing.

What are the requirements for a condition to be screened?

The criteria for a condition to be screened are defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as follows:

  • The condition screened for should be an important one
  • There should be an acceptable treatment for patients with the disease
  • The facilities for diagnosis and treatment should be available
  • There should be a recognised latent or early symptomatic stage
  • There should be a suitable test or examination which has few false positives 
  • The test or examination should be acceptable to the population
  • The cost, including diagnosis and subsequent treatment, should be economically balanced in relation to expenditure on medical care as a whole

What makes a good health screening test?

The test used to screen for a condition should be:

  • Acceptable to the person who is being screened
  • Repeatable (same results attained on different days)
  • Sensitive (few negative results which turn out to be true)
  • Specific (few positive results which turn out to be false)
  • Simple - quick and easy to interpret

Is there a perfect health screening test?

No health screening test meets all of the above criteria for the perfect screening test. False positives and negatives will be an inevitable part of any health screening programme. In effect, this means that most screening tests has the potential to cause harm (e.g. worry and concern) as well as do good (potentially save lives).

Click here to view our health screening brochure.


Further information

For further information on specific conditions screened at The Well, please follow the links listed below.

Male specific

Female specific

Cardiac tests