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?

The bottles are not manufactured with anything to be scanned. That would be unbelievably expensive as each individual bottle would need a unique code, which means each will need to be manufactured with a separate mould. A barcode sticker is really the most cost-efficient option. Each bottle is labelled with a barcode sticker, the same barcode is attached to the bag. In the unlikely event that the sticker does fall off, there is plenty of duplication to ensure the sample can still be processed.

@Catza the phlebotomist should be able to print off the barcodes as well. What a silly system.

I used to work in A&E and yes, we had no medical info on an unconscious person at all if someone was visiting the area. The only caveat:
-If the person had been to that trust before, we'd get 'some' info
-If a relative/friend came with them or had told the paramedics info
-Someone with a severe allergy, should carry an allergy alert card, bracelet or necklace to alert paramedics/medical staff in this situation!

People are also confusing having a blood test at their own GP practice, which may have access to print off another copy of the request form.

IF the blood test was requested by a consultant/clinician within a hospital, say on a ward upstairs, and you go to that hospital or trusts phlebotomy clinic, they too might have access to print off another form
If you are going from a GP surgery to a phlebotomy clinic at the hospital, in every area I've lived- you take the form with you.

What did your father think the paperwork was for that he was given OP?

Well it depends- we have a national
Portal so probably could lookup what form has been requested and reprint it. But that's hospital setting and some GPs - it's not universal for GPs. Also in the phleb dept it's not like in Gp they are just raking the blood not looking up on the computer

@ExitViaGiftShop with the greatest respect, I think everybody knows the whole NHS needs ‘rebooting’. But this is not the area to start in unfortunately… the suggestions you’re making would cost millions/billions to implement and that money is desperately needed elsewhere. Your replies show a distinct lack of understanding of what state the NHS is in if you think the IT system is what is draining the money from the NHS.

For example- newly qualified student nurses have NO JOBs in my trust despite a severe lack of funding for the (many!) vacancies…complete vacancy freeze for the foreseeable! How much money is wasted training nurses we can’t employ (despite needing them!)

Your FIL needs to take his slip with him.

I really hope very soon the NHS IT Systems will talk to each other- but there is other fish to fry first (putting it very lightly!)

You are determined to blame the system. Your FIL forgot the form and caused the problem. We have to tick a box to confirm we will bring our form with us when we book an appointment.

Different areas work differently. But generally pathology requests (eg bloods, swabs, urine, sputum and stool samples) are generated by a requesting clinician. Most areas use a clinical pathology system - ours is called ICE and links all local GP surgeries to the local regional hospital.

So the GP, or hospital doctor, will put the request on ICE and whoever the patient sees for the sample will be able to view the request, print the label (which is barcoded and attached to the sample tube or pot) and send it to the lab. No form needed here, just a barcoded patient specific label for that specific test.

If a patient turns up and there is nothing on ICE (which happens often as the hospital doctor forgets to put the request on) we cannot take their blood as 1, we don’t know what tests they wanted and there are hundreds and hundreds of potential test requests, and 2, the results would come back to us if we guessed and put them on ICE and not the hospital doctor.

It’s the same with forms - some other hospitals nearby that we’re not linked to by ICE can only request bloods using their forms. No form, no blood test.

It’s not about being a jobsworth. It’s about the patient taking responsibility for their health by bringing the form they were given (and staff making it clear they need to take the form with them to the phlebotomist!).

I worked in the NHS for many years. Knowing how disjointed it all is, l always carry in my handbag a list of all medical treatments I've had over the years and what I'm prescribed.
So that l can produce it if I'm suddenly in A+E at any hospital .
Do keep a record as things happen, it is surprising how quickly it can all get mixed up.
I worked in the lab long before bar codes were invented, and before all the machines that are now used for testing. It was a much more interesting job then but a lot fewer specimens processed each day.

Suspect this OP just wants to bash the NHS to be honest.

They should but they can't as per my previous post about lack of unified records.

Notes app on iPhone is great for this
List of medication
List of health conditions
List of operations
List of consultants and which hospital/dept they are at

I just hand it over when they ask about meds!

It needs to be scrutinised and reviewed to see if it's fit for purpose. It needs reform. I find your attitude immature and a bit silly tbh.

Anyway, as previous posters point out, the NHS is not one unified organisation. There is no cohesion it would seem, so how can one bash the NHS?

Wow - the NHS is really in the dark ages. Where I live (Sweden) it is all computerised. The doctor sends the list of tests to be taken electronically to practice nurses that do the blood tests so that when you turn up for your appointment they are all ready for you with the right test tubes assembled and those little barcoded sticky labels all printed out and ready. You can even look up your results online via the app.

If for some reason you cannot get an appointment you can go to the drop in blood tests clinic at the local hospital and wait your turn. You register your presence at a little computer station on arrival, type in your personal number and then when the phlebotomist comes out to call you they have your details and have got the test tubes and labels ready.

It's been like this since the mid 90s

I mean I think there's more important things at the minute than looking at blood test forms
The year long wait for gynaecology would be a start!

Correct. If you are being seen at different hospitals ( different NHS trusts) for different conditions as can be the case, often have to take your paper records so the doctor has a full view - had to do this with my late husband on many occasions.

Each NHS trust has its own system. No such thing as National when it comes to a full single view of a patient records . It's inefficient for the staff who waste lots of time and checking histories with patients and can't see records and for patients like your FIL who forget their papers.

Some GPs have direct access to the hospital booking system, it is possible, but it's not standard and it depends on the local health authority

Yes, but population of Sweden is just over 10 million, population of the UK is just under 70 million. Your health spend per capita is also a lot higher than in the UK..
I come from a very small country and we also have everything digitisied. So much so that even our store membership cards are loaded to the national ID card. It would be unthinkable to experience what we experience in the UK, not only with the NHS but any similarly convoluted government department.

What a lot of 86 year old patient blaming there has been on this thread. An administrator, who was possibly chatting shit to the administrator sitting next to her, as happens at my local phlebotomy clinic, could have picked up the phone to the GP surgery.

"Hello, I've got John Smith here, dob 1938, aged 86. He's just come all the way on the bus for a blood test but has forgotten his form. Can you please send me a copy of the request form by email, and we'll sort it out for him to save him getting the bus home and back again".

Let's not forget that poor old John Smith probably contributed tax and ni to the system for 40 plus years and may well still be doing so.

I'd have more sympathy for NHS staff if a little common sense and kindness were more often exercised.

Once done the administrators could go back to their chat.

We don’t even know it was requested by the GP so hold fire on your favourite pastime of slagging off the NHS and all who work in it…

Was it from the GP though? I have blood forms from a hospital out of area which they can't send over or print out

And blood clinic on a Saturday when they can't ring my GP if I forget it
They tell me to bring the form when they book and then ring me the day before to remind me again that they can't do it without
I leave them in the car or my handbag now

@RosesAndHellebores its generally handwritten and signed… therefore not a ‘email it over job’. It’s a disturb the gp and his patient, then get him to bring up the notes, look which tests are required, re-write the slip, give it back to the receptionist to then somehow get the handwritten request to the hospital… the system is utterly rubbish but it’s certainly not the receptionists fault.

And what are is the cut off we afford this service? If you’re under 50 do you get sent away because you have no slip, but over 50 we ring the GP?

@sidge @NC2025NC OK if not the GP, could they not have called the issuer? Or would that have been too much trouble?

The issuer is the GP!!!

@pippa12 I haven't seen a handwritten request for decades. They are printed out with a bar code. The receptionists at my practice can access my records.

This has happened to me at my GP surgery. I was sent a text asking me to make an appointment to have my bloods done, which l did.
When l got to the appointment the nurse asked why l was there. Showed her the text.
"Well l don't know what they want you tested for. You should have brought a form."
I didn't have a form. All l'd had was a text to make an appointment. I assumed it would be on my records why they wanted my bloods done.

Ditto blood pressure. I get a text saying l need to make an appointment for that.
So when l go, the nurse tells me l can have it done at the pharmacy and l've 'wasted an appointment.'

Except l can't. Because l'm taking blood pressure meds, and the NHS website states very clearly that 'you cannot get a free blood pressure check if you already have high blood pressure.'
Not one person at the surgery has been aware of that. I've even saved a screenshot of it on my phone now because they deny all knowledge.
It's not the medical staff's fault. If they're not told, they won't know. I didn't until l tried to make a pharmacy appointment.