Elderly FIL and blood test

[ExitViaGiftShop]

My elderly FIL had a blood test booked for yesterday, which was due to take place in the Phlebotomy dept of his local hospital. He turned up and when it was his turn, was told by the phlebotomist that they could not take his bloods because he had not brought his 'blood form' with him. This is a piece of paper which apparently details the type of blood test he needs. So, he had to go home and I've rebooked it for him.

Is this standard procedure or did he encounter a jobs worth? Surely all the info regarding his blood test is held on the NHS computer? It's 2024, not 1994! I'm really
annoyed that an 86 year old man was turned away and that the staff could not have found a solution to this non problem. AIBU?

My local hospital won't see you unless you have the paper slip it's not negotiable

Sounds great, but presumably the country where you live in Europe spends more than the UK on healthcare.

Ah, okay.

It seems a bit silly that a GP practise can manage it but a hospital can't, though! Relying on someone to remember a piece of paper before they can have their appointment is batshit, lol.

That's how it works in my NHS GP practise too. The GP refers you for bloods - if he can't take them then, you'll have an appointment within 24 hours with a nurse. She does the tests, sends them off and results are back within 24 hours again.

Thank you for the link. What a shame the project was abandoned. I would imagine, money was needlessly wasted due to incompetence and inefficiency.

So, say for example you live in Suffolk, go on holiday to Devon and become seriously unwell and end up in hospital... the clinician's cannot access your medical info?

I've taken DC for 4 blood tests as ordered by the GP in last few months, in a community hospital. They just asked who ordered the test, look it up on their PC, and do the right test. The GP doesn't give any paperwork, not even to make the appointment at the hospital which I had to do. So it is possible!

Different trusts use different systems. You can pick up very very basic GP information and some clinic letters if your system is compatible and you’ve allowed your information to be shared, but otherwise it’s a fact finding exercise by the health care professional.

@LOpportunityCestFuckingEnorme its only possible if they use the same system. Three hospitals I work at, within 25 minutes of each other use completely different systems which do not speak to each other what so ever, so it’s not possible unfortunately. If it was I’m sure the phlebotomist would of done so.

What if you're on holiday in the UK, get hospitalised in an unconscious state, you are allergic to X, Y & Z medications. No one will know. What if you are not in a fit state to answer questions?

Nope. We may be able to see some of your clinical notes if your GP surgery is in our area and happens to be linked to our computer system. This is mostly the case is physical health hospitals. If we are a MH hospital, we cannot see your physical health notes and vice versa as we operate two completely different computer system. Similarly, I cannot see any community notes for local patients. But if you are an out of area patient, I have no chance of accessing your medical notes. I have no idea how people cope in A&E and I suggest you have a card on your person which states your allergies and medication in case of emergencies. For example, if you take blood thinning meds and have a stroke, trombolising will have a catastrophic effect. Don't risk it. Hospitals are operating blind in emergency situations so do your best to have basic info with you.

@ExitViaGiftShop it happens frequently on intensive care where I work. You speak with family or (if the patient is unidentifiable in which case you wouldn’t have their records anyway because you wouldn’t know who they are!) you provide care ‘in the patients best interests’

And possibly also have ID cards with all important information linked. Alas, the UK thought ID cards were invading their privacy.

What a shambles and how incredibly stressful for everyone. How can the govt not find some super duper IT brains to create a centralised database and then migrate all the data over to it from the various ones that seem to exist. This doesn't need to cost billions.

Having joined up computer systems will be the very last thing on my mind tomorrow on my 13 hour shift , the lack of beds, staff and equipment will! I hope they put the wonga there!

And you’re deluded if you don’t think it will cost billions! There are 100’s of pieces of documentation for each episode of care 😂

It’s standard but when this has happened to me (when I learnt it was standard) I was very much made to feel like this was a me problem and not an nhs problem. Like somehow it was my fault for not bringing it rather than the nurses fault for not issuing it. It sounds similar with your FIL.

Creating a centralized database of number of databases is very costly and time consuming. Imagine trying to separate the spaghetti in a factory full of tangled up cooked spaghetti. As PP said having enough doctors, beds and being able to provide basic healthcare is a lot more urgent and necessary.

It will be the clinician who is looking after you’s job to contact your GP or health provider to establish baseline information. And they will probably waste a lot of time doing it, the manifold black holes in the NHS system are maddening at times.
And it’s a shame your fil wasted his own and also other people’s time turning up for a blood taking appointment without the form he was given, but this is also the form that identifies the bloods and accompanies them to the labs. What did he think they gave him a form for?

@ExitViaGiftShop I thought you could opt-in to sharing your medical records. I did. However, the last few blood tests I’ve had, the Dr has given me a form to take. That said, once they said they would have the form produced at the place I was having my test at but then failed to do so. So then I got there and they manually wrote it out.

Seems a bit lame to me because the previous time they gave me a form and if I wanted, I could have just ticked all the boxes if I wanted to and who’d know?

The gp/nurse would know when s/he received blood test results s/he hadn’t ordered and be pretty furious you had defaced the document in their name and NMC/GMC number? You’d look like a Wally and waste a lot of time and money? Blood tests costs £100’s!

Of course it’s standard procedure. The dr prints off a form and you take it with you. It’s never been any different

We don't have paper forms where I live, in the UK

Standard. I have bloods done in my local area and my consultant is at a different hospital and they can never access them
So I'm not quite sure why I actually get them done every 12 weeks but anyway...

This thread completely sums up why the NHS is in such a mess.

Where I live the form is uploaded from the GP or the Consultant to the phlebotomy clinics' computer. You make an appointment at any of the local phlebotomy clinics. There are about half a dozen.

In an ideal world, he should have taken his form. However, also in an ideal world, the administrator should and could have called the GP and got them to ping through a copy of the form. I think assistance and adjustments shoukd be afforded people in their 80s. They fact they aren't illustrates everything that is wrong with the National Health SERVICE. The clue is in the third word.