How long for blood tests?

[Northquit]

I've got swollen ankles and they've not got better.
So a visit to a PA who referred me for blood tests.
He listened to my heart and says that sounds fine to him.

So, he'd not sent through any info on where to get the blood drawn, so I rang and got the number today.

I'm sure when I've had bloods done in the past you just tipped up at Phlebotomy at the hospital and took a number and sat and waited.
However now you have to book. So My nearest location appointment is 24th ... Oh, that sounds a long way off. Next nearest ... 22nd ... Ok, let's see when the next appointment is .. 13th September.
Ok. I'll have that.

Is that the state of bloods sampling these days?

I'm surprised because my local area has a fabulous new testing facility which can process an amazing number of samples! Royal Oldham Hospital's FlexLab X can process up to 15,525 blood test tubes every hour.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyjn8e04jjo

So, is it sat empty most of the time or is it processing blood from, the rest of the UK?

Joanna Borzomato, consultant clinical scientist, said: "We all know when we get our blood tests done, there is quite a lot of anxiety around waiting for your blood tests so the quicker we can get those results back to the clinician the quicker they can make a decision, then that takes some of that anxiety away".

Of course there's anxiety about blood tests - so me having to wait a couple of weeks for a sample to be taken seems to be a nonsense.

Am I just being irate for no reason?

I was told to book one so logged on via the link on 2nd August, the earliest I could get was 27th. Saying that, despite them saying to would take up to 10 days for results, I got a message today re cholesterol, so that bit was incredibly quick!

Local hospital moved over to pre booking in March. Rarely have to wait more than a day or so and there are slots reserved for same day outpatient referrals. GP phlebotomist can be several weeks’ wait for an appointment.

Yes, mine was at the GP. I'd still rather wait for that than the hospital as it's much easier to get to.

I've just waited (appointment today!) 2 weeks and a day for bloods at my GP, and have a 3 week wait for an xray. I don't remember either taking this long in the past but it's a long time since I had any such further tests.

In terms of efficiency wouldn't someone saying "you need some blood taking" being the one to take the blood.
It took me two phone calls to get the blood appointment and will take office time and space for me to give the blood.

We used to have a nurse who would do this when she saw you - she would take blood for cholesterol etc when doing medication reviews.

It feels silly that the delay is now in getting the blood to the ultra-fast test centre.

I work in a large GP practice of approximately 16,000 patients.

We take approximately 150-200 blood samples a day. They all go to our local hospital which also takes samples from all the GP surgeries, community hospitals and its own patients.

That’s a lot of samples to process!

I had a blood test last week. Saw the dr he sent me the link to book an appointment at the community diagnosistic centre, I booked it for the next day. Results on the NHS app by the end of the week. I was very impressed.

In terms of efficiency wouldn't someone saying "you need some blood taking" being the one to take the blood.

They don’t build additional time into the appointment slots for this, or for every patient saying ‘whilst I’m here…’

You may think it only takes a minute extra, but the reality is it causes endless appointments to run late, means nursing staff miss tea and toilet breaks, or end up working into their lunch break or past their home time -all unpaid.
Ask me how I know!!!!

My DH got one this morning, just walked in, but he had a blood test request form from the doctor. Results in a couple of days in time for a phone consult next week. Should you have got a referral form from the reception? My DH gets regular blood tests and they send him a form to hand in when he goes.

Where we are the surgery nurse can also take the bloods and sends them off for you. I would ask at the surgery, the PA may have expected you to just get an appointment to get them done by the nurse.

I get my blood tests at GP surgery and results come back within two days.

Yeah but how long do you have to wait to get blood taken?

GP is ridiculous wait for blood tests, weeks and weeks.

Or you can get a form and either tip up to the hospital walk in, or book in to the local diagnostic center. Loads of appointments available.

Results back next day.

Then of course you need to get back with the GP. ....... And wait.......

Exactly. Mine was a nearly 4 week delay for the appointment but then a message through the app with results the next day.

We used to have a place where you tipped up at in your own time at the hospital, take a number and wait.
So usually the same or next day depending on how enthusiastic and what time you got your envelope.
Then a week wait for the results.

Now we've got a much longer wait for blood samples to be taken and quicker results.

This means it used to be about a week and now it's nearer a month.

If the fancy new machine can test 15500 samples an hour then how much time is it sat empty.

It feels like this time delay is madness.

@Northquit after 2 weeks waiting for the appointment, my blood was taken late afternoon on Thursday, was told samples would be collected Friday lunchtime, had my results Friday afternoon. I can't fault the speed of the actual testing!

https://www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk/news/nca-news/high-tech-lab-system-reduces-wait-patient-results?back=217

This entire article annoys me.

High-tech lab system reduces wait for patient results

A new state of the art laboratory system is more than halving turnaround times on blood test results for patients – leading to a quicker diagnosis and treatment.

I'm going to have to write to someone and make my grumbling heard.

Clearly a three or four week delay in having blood taken compared to the previous system is an absolute nonsense.

And to join their involvement means being annoyed at their drop down Gender question which I think is a step too far as I need to go and take my blood pressure.

https://www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk/about-us/council-governors/governors-members

We have to book on line urgent ones you phone and they fit you in. Normally 2/3 wait but if you keep an eye on it I think you can get earlier cancellations

but it’s much quicker than turning up where you had to wait literally hours to get seen because of the number waiting

edited tk add results are normally on my NHS app two days later

I sent through my blood pressure readings last week and today a text arrived.

SUGGESTED PLAN: Start you on a blood pressure medication called Amlodipine. Repeat blood pressure after 2-3 weeks of starting medication.

I rang them to point out that I was still waiting for blood to be taken for the tests the PA had sent me for due to the delays.
I asked about phlebotomy at the surgery as it's listed on their website.

First appointment with them is October as people are off and perhaps that's why I was told to go via the central place.

I have told them I would prefer to wait until my blood tests come back and are reviewed before accepting advice to take a drug.

So, she clearly added a note to my record because I have got another text :

I have received your message. I would advice you repeat your blood pressure in 6 months. I will re-send you the link nearer to the time. Please continue with diet and lifestyle changes in the meantime.

Am I right to feel a bit peed off?

As someone who used to work in a path lab loading the analysers with samples and then processing the results it's hilarious to me that you think they're just sat empty waiting for you to have your sample taken in 3 weeks. The lab will be processing thousands of samples from Patients in that and other local hospitals, not just from primary care settings. There'll be Patients in hospital clinics needing rapid results before they start their chemo each visit, Patients on hospital wards needing results before the days IV drips can be put up. Patients in emergency theatre needing blood crossmatched because they're bleeding during operations. Diabetic clinics. Ante natal clinics. There's many settings were rapid results are critical.....urgent in secondary care is very different to urgent in primary care - that's when these machines come into their own.

The professionals will also weight up risk/benefits of starting a medication prior to blood tests being taken.

@FarmGirl78
If the average wait for a blood test in my area is 3 weeks then it says to me that there is a bottleneck there that needs sorting out.

This fancy machine takes bloods from some other areas, but there is clearly a problem taking blood from people which we didn't used to have when we had a dedicated central phlebotomy section at the hospital.

There is no point in having technology if there are bottlenecks causing such delays.

Is a 3-4 week wait for blood tests acceptable?

Should a doctor wait for those blood test results before prescribing anything?

@Northquit......

There is DEFINITELY a point in having that technology, because it benefits all those people on the wards who need results urgently to monitor their condition, or for treatment that is urgent or even stat. Trust me, at numerous times of the day the lab can have dozens if not hundreds of samples waiting to be fed onto the analysers. They just can't go fast enough at times. There's ALWAYS someone who needs a result quicker than the machine can do it.

No, a 3 weeks wait for a blood test is not acceptable.

A Doctor will use local and national guidelines alongside his own knowledge, experience and discretion to decide whether he should wait for blood results before prescribing anything.

The machine can cope with 15500 samples an hour.

It sounds fabulous. But what benefit is it when people needing blood tests have a long wait for blood being taken.

And I get it'll support people in a&e etc but for me and presumably everyone else waiting weeks for blood to actually be taken, we're in a worse position than we would have been in previous years.