It’s a fair question. CheckPoint Essentials and Plus are specialist-led assessments that already give you a clearer picture of your health than almost anything else on the market. So why go further?
The answer, increasingly, comes down to one organ that most of us never think about until something goes wrong: the liver.
The quiet organ
Your liver is one of the hardest-working organs in your body, involved in everything from metabolism to immune function to filtering toxins from your blood. It’s also remarkably stoic. Liver disease can progress for years, sometimes decades, with no symptoms at all.
“The liver doesn’t complain. By the time a patient feels unwell, the disease is often well established. That’s exactly why proactive assessment matters so much, and why it’s so often overlooked.”
Conditions like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are now extraordinarily common among adults in the UK, and many of those affected have no idea. Caught early, the trajectory of liver disease can often be changed dramatically. Caught late, the options narrow.
What a FibroScan actually does
This is where CheckPoint Ultimate goes further. Included in the Ultimate assessment, and available through Build Your CheckPoint, is a Liver Specialist Review with FibroScan.
A FibroScan is a specialised, non-invasive scan that measures two things that matter enormously for liver health: the degree of fibrosis, or scarring, in the liver tissue, and the amount of fat stored within it. It does this in minutes, without needles or biopsy.
“A FibroScan gives us in a few minutes what used to require an invasive biopsy. It’s an exceptional tool for catching liver disease at a stage where we can still do something meaningful about it.”
For years, assessing liver scarring meant a liver biopsy, an invasive procedure carrying real risk and discomfort. FibroScan has transformed that, and it allows us to assess liver health proactively rather than only when symptoms force the issue.
Why specialist-led matters
Here’s something that sets CheckPoint apart from much of the market. At many health-screening providers, your scan might be performed and interpreted by a general healthcare professional. At CheckPoint, your FibroScan is performed and reviewed by a leading Professor of Hepatology, and you receive a one-to-one consultation with that specialist.
That distinction matters more than it might first appear.
“A number on a report tells you very little on its own. The value is in the interpretation, understanding what a result means for this particular person, their history and their risk, and knowing what to do next. That’s what a specialist brings.”
A FibroScan reading interpreted in isolation is just data. The same reading, interpreted by a hepatologist who can place it in the context of your full CheckPoint results, your blood markers, your body composition, your history, becomes genuinely actionable insight. You’re not just told a number. You’re told what it means for you, and what, if anything, you should do about it.
Results there and then
Because the assessment is specialist-led from start to finish, you don’t wait anxiously for a report to arrive weeks later. Your FibroScan results are available during your visit, and you discuss them directly with the hepatologist in a dedicated one-to-one consultation. Questions answered, context given, next steps agreed, all in the same appointment.
So, Essentials, Plus or Ultimate?
Essentials and Plus remain outstanding assessments, and for many people they are exactly right. But if liver health is something you want genuine clarity on, whether because of family history, lifestyle, or simply because you believe in knowing rather than wondering, the Liver Specialist Review in Ultimate offers something few other assessments can: gold-standard liver imaging, interpreted and explained by one of the country’s leading hepatologists, in a single visit.
Because the best time to understand your liver health isn’t when something goes wrong. It’s now, while you can still act on what you learn.
“Most liver disease we see could have been caught far earlier. Giving people that early window, and the expert guidance to use it, is exactly why I’m proud to be part of CheckPoint.”
CheckPoint Ultimate includes a Liver Specialist Review with FibroScan, performed and reviewed by a leading Professor of Hepatology. The FibroScan is also available as part of Build Your CheckPoint.
Frequently asked questions
What does a FibroScan measure?
A FibroScan measures the amount of scarring (fibrosis) and fat in your liver. It is non-invasive, painless, and takes a few minutes, with no needles or biopsy involved.
Do I need my liver checked if I feel fine?
Liver disease usually causes no symptoms in its early stages, which is when it is most treatable. The British Liver Trust estimates fatty liver disease affects up to 1 in 5 people in the UK, many of whom don’t know they have it.
Is the FibroScan included in Essentials or Plus?
No. The Liver Specialist Review with FibroScan is included in CheckPoint Ultimate, and can also be added to any assessment through Build Your CheckPoint.
Who reviews my FibroScan results?
Your scan is performed and reviewed by Professor Patrick Kennedy, Consultant Hepatologist, and you discuss the results with him in a one-to-one consultation during the same visit.
