How to start a mobile phlebotomy business in the UK

A mobile phlebotomy service takes blood in patients' homes or workplaces and sends it to a laboratory. In England that's still a regulated activity, so you need CQC registration, plus safe ways to carry sharps, waste and samples, a plan for working alone, and prices that cover your travel.

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By
Drawn, made by Hizmedia
Reading time
8 min read
Sources
9 sources cited

In short

  • Being mobile doesn't change registration: taking blood for lab analysis is a CQC regulated activity in England.[1]
  • Samples travel as "Biological substance, Category B" (UN3373), in three layers of packaging.[3]
  • Working alone needs a risk assessment and a reliable way to call for help.[4]
  • Sharps and clinical waste travel with you: carry the right containers and use an authorised carrier.[5][6]
  • Price visits from your real costs: travel time, mileage, consumables and the lab's charges.

Do mobile phlebotomists need CQC registration?

In England, yes, if you take blood that's sent to a laboratory for analysis. That's the regulated activity "diagnostic and screening procedures", wherever the blood is taken.[1] Finger-prick or venous tests whose samples aren't sent to a lab are excluded.

A mobile service may have no premises patients visit, so read the CQC's guidance on what counts as a location before you apply.[2] Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulators: see starting a private blood test clinic.

How do I get samples to the laboratory safely?

Patient samples sent to a lab travel as "Biological substance, Category B", UN3373. By road, they need three layers of packaging: a primary container, a leakproof secondary layer, and an outer packaging, with absorbent material for liquids, and the outer package marked with the UN3373 diamond and the proper shipping name.[3]

Your laboratory or its courier will usually supply compliant packaging and tell you how and when they want samples handed over. Ask how long each test's samples can wait, and at what temperature, and plan your rounds around it.

How do I stay safe working alone?

The Health and Safety Executive expects employers to include the risks of working alone in their risk assessment before anyone works alone, with a reliable way to stay in touch and to call for help.[4] The same thinking protects you if you work for yourself.

  • Keep a schedule someone else can see, with each visit's address and time.
  • Agree when you'll check in, and what happens if you don't.
  • Decide when a visit needs two people, and leave if a visit doesn't feel safe.

What do I carry for sharps and waste?

If you employ anyone, the Sharps Regulations apply on the road as much as in a clinic: safer sharps where reasonably practicable, no recapping, a disposal container close to where you use the needle, and a clear procedure if someone is injured.[5] Carry a portable sharps container, and take every used needle and blood-stained item away with you.

You remain responsible for that waste until an authorised carrier takes it, so check your carrier is registered and keep records.[6] The Green Book recommends hepatitis B vaccination for anyone who may have direct contact with patients' blood.[7]

What insurance do I need?

In Great Britain, employers' liability insurance is compulsory as soon as you employ anyone, with cover of at least £5 million.[8] Most phlebotomists also carry professional indemnity and public liability insurance that covers working in patients' homes. Check that your vehicle insurance covers business use, too.

How should I price home visits?

There's no single going rate, so build your price from your real costs. A common approach is the test price, plus a visit fee that covers coming to the patient.

  1. Work out the time a visit really takes: travelling there and on to the next patient, as well as the draw itself.
  2. Add mileage, parking, consumables, packaging, and getting samples to the lab.
  3. Add the laboratory's charge for each test, and any card fees.
  4. Set a visit fee for each area you cover, so far-away postcodes pay for the extra travel.

Booking matters as much as price: a visit squeezed in without travel time makes you late for everyone after it. Drawn keeps travel time free between home visits, only offers visits in the postcodes you cover, and adds your visit fee once per booking. See Drawn for mobile phlebotomists.

What about data protection?

You'll hold patients' health data, so you're a controller under UK GDPR. Most organisations pay the ICO data protection fee: since 17 February 2025 it's £52 a year for the smallest.[9] Write a privacy notice patients can read before they book, and keep patient details off your phone's lock screen and out of messages.

A checklist before your first visit

  1. Registered with the CQC, or your nation's regulator.
  2. A laboratory agreed, with packaging, hand-over times and temperature rules.
  3. A lone working plan, with check-ins someone else follows.
  4. Portable sharps containers and an authorised waste carrier.
  5. Insurance that covers working in patients' homes, and a vehicle insured for business.
  6. ICO fee paid and a privacy notice written.
  7. Your postcode areas, visit fees and travel time set up for booking.

Sources

  1. [1]Scope of registration: diagnostic and screening procedures, Care Quality Commission
  2. [2]What is a location?, Care Quality Commission
  3. [3]Packaging and transport requirements for patient samples (UN3373), GOV.UK
  4. [4]Protecting lone workers: how to manage the risks of working alone, Health and Safety Executive
  5. [5]Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, Health and Safety Executive
  6. [6]Waste duty of care: code of practice, GOV.UK
  7. [7]Hepatitis B: the green book, chapter 18, UK Health Security Agency
  8. [8]Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969: a guide for employers, Health and Safety Executive
  9. [9]Data protection fee regime: government response, GOV.UK

This guide is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. Rules change, so check with the CQC or your nation's regulator, your laboratory and your insurer before you start. Facts checked 4 November 2026 against the sources listed.

Questions

Questions people ask

Something else? Email director@hizmedia.com and a real person will reply.

Do I need CQC registration for mobile phlebotomy?

In England, yes, if the blood you take is sent to a laboratory for analysis. That's the regulated activity of diagnostic and screening procedures, wherever the blood is taken.

How do I send blood samples to a lab?

As 'Biological substance, Category B' (UN3373), in three layers of packaging with absorbent material, marked with the UN3373 diamond. Your laboratory or courier will usually supply the packaging.

How much should I charge for a home blood test visit?

There's no single rate. Build a visit fee from your real costs: travel time, mileage, consumables, packaging and getting samples to the lab, then add the lab's charge for each test.

Is it safe to work alone in patients' homes?

It can be, with a lone working risk assessment, a schedule someone else can see, regular check-ins, and a clear rule for when a visit needs two people.