GP mucked up my blood tests

[jt1952]

I feel like crying right now.

I saw my GP with a suspicion of an under active thyroid. He agreed with me and said he would book in the following blood tests:

FBC
Liver function
Renal function
Thyroid function
Tests for ferritin etc
Vitamin D
Cholesterol

I have had the blood test and got the results today. He only ordered FBC, renal function, liver function and HBA1C.

For full context I am overweight, I’ve lost 10 stone and I am still losing (intentionally). The GP has messaged to say the blood are all fine and as far as he’s concerned that’s the case closed. I can access my results.

I feel so frustrated that half the tests he promised haven’t been done. Now I need to start the entire process again, wait four weeks to speak to a GP and wait another four for a blood test, wait a week for the results and see if I actually get the tests I need.

AIBU to make a complaint? It really feels like he was trying to pull a fast one with the HBA1C, and blame this on me being pre-diabetic. In actual fact it’s at the bottom of a normal range!

Just make an appt for another blood test for the thyroid function?

The GP has to order them at my surgery unless you have an ongoing health condition.

Routine appointments are booking 4+ weeks in advance.

No one is trying to pull a fast one . It will have been a simple error . Write and let them know and ask for an expedited appointment for another blood test . No biggie

Surely you can email the practice and explain the test has not been done as discussed with the GP and as per your concerns you’d like to arrange for the thyroid function tests please?

No need for a complaint, it’s an error not some kind of deliberate way to annoy you.

Well done on your huge weight loss. As an aside wouldn’t an underactive thyroid make this almost impossible?

Phone up and explain the error and ask to be booked in next week as a further delay due to human error is unwarranted. I’ve been squeezed in for a blood test at short notice many a time. On one occasion I walked in for the blood test and was given a flu jab because th nurse was running a flu jabs clinic and didn’t read the screen to see what she was supposed to be doing to me. Did I complain? No, I just made sure the blood test was taken.

Boots sell a home test for under £10

Not sure how good they are though.

When you’re a woman who’s been medically gaslit for your entire life it certainly feels that way though. Diabetes was not discussed as even the remotest of possibilities, I have none of the symptoms and he didn’t say that he was ordering the test. It just feels so frustrating because I now need to start the entire process again.

The weight loss was medically assisted. Without that assistance it has proven impossible for me.

Just ask for another test. It’s probably a mistake. I don’t see any reason why the doctor would be ‘trying to pull a fast one’ when he agreed with you that it was possibly a thyroid issue.

It’s the addition of extra tests that has thrown me off. Why would he omit more than half of the tests he told me he would order, but add a very specific test for diabetics? I have never been diagnosed with diabetes, nor has it ever been suspected or mentioned to me before.

Did you physically see the blood request form? If not, it 'might' be that the phlebotomist didn't collect the correct tubes or they made the error and missed the test.

Even if not, I agree with writing to the surgery, or practice manager if you prefer to say its been missed off. Not as a complaint, just that it was potentially missed off in error.

I have none of the symptoms

I have a very underactive thyroid and I'm regularly tested for Diabetes.

Hypothyroidism puts me at increased risk and I've been over weight in my life (mid fifties now).

ETA: The symptoms are very similar so if you suspect hypothyroidism, you will have experienced some of the symptoms.

Just contact them, ideally showing written evidence s/he promised the missing tests, and say you believed you would have those but haven't. And please can you arrange them ASAP? And if not could GP contact me please to explain why they're no longer deemed necessary.

I suppose you never ever make mistakes at work, op?

Surely the first step would be to check my thyroid? Not a bunch of stuff that’s not concerning me at all.

Not ones that impact patient care and wellbeing, or delay treatment by 8+ weeks.

To be fair I do think I’m extra grumpy today because I’ve been diagnosed with a torn meniscus. I’m just really sad about the entire thing because it takes a lot for me to see a GP (I have had many bad experiences) and now this has happened.

It's what concerns the doctor more that they tend to go with as they know more than their patients as a rule.

For example you're saying you've never had any diabetes symptoms and yet they overlap with hypothyroidism symptoms.

Are you sure there aren’t some more results to come? On my app, the blood test results often come in over a few days apart.

Did you go as tired all the time (I’m guessing from the tests they said they’d run)? If so, the diabetes test is one they usually run for that.

The only symptom that overlaps is fatigue. The doctor agreed with me in the consultation that my symptoms align with thyroid issues, and I have a family history. He explicitly stated he would test my thyroid. Diabetes wasn’t mentioned as an issue nor has it ever been suspected. Fair enough test for it, but not at the expense of other tests I actually need.

i went with fatigue, always cold, hair thinning and low basal body

Can you afford to go private. Initial consultation approx £200, bloods taken approximately £150 - £200.

You’d have this all sorted in a week and they can send your results to both you and your NHS doctor.

Not sure why he decided against the thyroid test then.

Anyway, if you've got a spare tenner you can get a home test from Boots.

I have loads of blood tests. Different ones take longer to come back. FBC is always quickest. Very likely that the others were requested but are still being processed. Give it a week before doing anything

No, it’s out of the question sadly.