AIBU in thinking that if GP notes something wrong with your bloods, they should call you?

[DeTwamps]

2 months ago I had bloods done. Heard nothing back so presumed all ok.
I've since needed a copy of the bloods for an external agency and have called 3 times to get a copy of the bloods.
Finally today the receptionist goes 'Oh, hold on, there's a note on here - Patient to make appointment to discuss further management'.
Why the heck am I finding this out only now???????????

You'd swear I was trying to get access to Top Secret information. In fact, I've actually had an appointment with a gp in the practice in the intervening 2 months and nothing was mentioned!

I've had similar crap with this practice before where a consultant will advise a course of action to be taken by the GP but they don't actually act on it. I get copied on the letters and then I have to ring the GP myself to ask them to read the letter.

What in the world? FFS. AIBU?

I’ve had good doctors who’ve called me once results have come in if there is a problem. Most of them don’t bother though. You can’t expect decent standards of care in the NHS.

Note, this is the third time I've rang about these blood results, and it's only today, 2 months later, that I'm told that there's anything wrong. Bit late now!

At my previous GP, you had to phone yourself for results while at my current they do “If there’s something that needs following up, we’ll call you.”

As there’s clearly no general policy and it varies from surgery to surgery, it seems pretty obvious that they should tell people when ordering a test which one they follow. Neither is unreasonable, but not communicating it is.

Online services also seem to vary wildly, our surgery has a few appointments and you can order repeat prescriptions but despite having sections for blood test results, immunisation and allergies both mine and DCs are all blank despite all of us having had at least 2 of the 3!

Did you know that you can download an nhs app on your phone or tablet which holds a basic patient records. You can just login and check your own test results, book appointments, read back through a summary care record etc.

You just need to ask the surgery to set you up with login details- mine was done by texting me the access code, password and login.

Once you have that, there's no need to faff about with results lines and mardy receptionists.

Shittybobbins. I have the app. Our very helpful practice don't allow access to anything apart from to order repeat prescriptions.

I’ve just found out I had group strep b in my last pregnancy and wasn’t told!

I'm a receptionist and the GP tasks us when patients need to be seen for further management and we call them to book an appt with the GP, nurse or HCA or if they need repeat bloods. Most patients ring themselves or come into surgery to ask for their results and I've always done the same at my own doctors.

I'll explain what the issue is - it's low magnesium. My magnesium levels on admission to hospital were 0.2. Pretty much non-existent. I was experiencing seizures. They managed to get my magnesium up to 0.6 in hospital via IV drips. A week after discharge it had dropped to 0.5. GP Called the medical registrar in the hospital who advised that I should continue to take oral magnesium supplements and repeat the bloods one week later as they said my levels fluctuated during my 8 day admission.

I went for the blood test and never heard a thing afterwards.

For context, my friend who is a consultant was surprised that my whole body didn't just go into a seizure. Death would follow as you can't breathe. That's how I was on the way into hospital. Arms, hands, legs and neck literally seized up and wouldn't move. I couldn't speak. So I was quite close to a heart attack and death.

Basically, it's unacceptable.

It was the scariest experience of my life and one I don't wish to repeat! It's negligent of the GP practice not to contact me.

Did you know that you can download an nhs app on your phone or tablet which holds a basic patient records. You can just login and check your own test results, book appointments, read back through a summary care record etc.

It depends on what your surgery decides to give patients access to.

My receptionist told me that the GP had put no action required. Had I not then thought maybe I should take a copy for the consultant I would never have known that the results were actually not available as the sample was not adequate. So all stated n/a and referred to not being able to test.

You have to call at my surgery. Unless something is really wrong then you ring you at 7pm at night
I ask for physical result copies each and every time now after EIGHT years of being told "normal" "no further action", "normal"
Eventually a locum GP opened all the 50+ blood results, noted that in fact they were not at all normal and rang me at night to send me to haematology
I was very, very cross to find in 2008 my bloods were abnormal yet it wasn't spotted until 2016

We have to call for our blood results. If it's urgent the doctor will call.

"I know what's wrong. And it IS a life threatening issue - easily rectified IF IDENTIFIED.

I'm not 80, but I forgot to follow up on the results."

So the scariest experience of your life, and you have a life threatening condition...and you forgot to follow up the results. Did they not cross your mind at all?You need to take some personal responsibility for managing your own health and being pro active.

I say this as someone in a similar situation and a poor working memory. I set reminders for things like checking results are back and have requested that for any correspondence eg between consultant and GP, blood results, I am copied in (this is also very useful if you claim PIP).

I had routine bloods done last year and had a phone call from the GP practice a week later to say the GP needed to speak to me regarding my thyroid function results and made a telephone appointment for me. The GP rang me to explain, arranged further blood tests and again I was contacted by the GP surgery afterwards to discuss results.
If a result is abnormal that will be highlighted and should trigger the surgery to take some action imo.
I'm a nurse - I often take blood. It's my responsibility to check the results, absolutely not my patients responsibility! I always tell them I will only call them in the event something is abnormal so no news is good news. I just make sure I check the results on a daily basis.
If a blood test is grossly abnormal then usually the lab running the test will contact the person who ordered the test that day. By grossly abnormal I mean that they are severely anaemic or they have cancer markers for example. It is then that person's responsibility to follow that up with the patient.
I don't agree the patient should be chasing results.

In our practice, we’re told not to call unless the doctor specifically asks you to. Otherwise they call you if there’s an issue.

@Ellapaella the no news is good news is a dangerous way to practice unless you have a very clear system for ensuring that all bloods you send, you see a result for.
All tests not just all patients.

I feel quite fortunate because not only do my GP surgery phone if there is anything amiss that needs a follow up but they also sent an out of hours GP to our house when DDs bloods indicated she needed to go to hospital.

I have mine done every four weeks for life. Usually a doctor rings the next day with the results.

I think the official stance is whilst the results are about you, they're technically not "yours". Same reason you have to apply and ask for medical notes about you I guess.

What would you do with your results out of interest? It would literally be a list of numbers to you unless you're a clinician familiar would blood results and how to interpret them, which you may we'll be?

Doctors triage and review all blood results, something truly urgent or dangerous would be picked up and managed. If they haven't contacted you, take it as a good sign and it's likely only minor issues and will be easy to resolve - hopefully. Of course if this isn't the case you're absolutely within your rights to complain/question their practise etc. They would take. Seriously. Hopefully it's not that, I'm sure!

Hope all is ok and good luck

@Ginfilledcats my results come with the variations (I can't think of the word!!) next to them
If I had seen them earlier I might have queried why 0.5 on a scale of 2-8 was classed as normal

Doctors triage and review all blood results, something truly urgent or dangerous would be picked up and managed. If they haven't contacted you

my experience suggests otherwise. If I hadn't asked for a physical copy and read that the sample wasn't enough to be tested, I'd have gone away after a doctor and a receptionist both said nothing to worry about.

YANBU My practice tell me not to ring for results

If there is major issue they will phone you. If you need a follow up appointment they will send you a mail. If you don’t respond to the mail within 6 weeks they will call you