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!

"I'd have been on at them every day"
OP, you must be a GP's nightmare.
Do you have severe health anxiety?

Sorry but if you were told you were being tested for diabetes, because your doctor is suspicious, you’d not be asking for a cancellation appointment for the blood test?

Well, he knows you, I don’t 🤷🏼‍♀️ perhaps he thought he’d take a ‘belt and braces approach’ wanted to cover all bases…thought it was unlikely but decided he’d 100% eliminate it, who knows?

In Scotland you can’t test for vitamin D now as most people not on supplements go low over winter. The advice is just to buy vitamin D tablets over winter. Cholesterol is only useful if BMI smoling alcohol FH and whether or not you are diabetic is known as what you do about it depends on other risk factors

As soon as the OP mentioned she works at the hospital, I thought of a poster who constantly posts about her severe health anxiety.

Very similar argumentative style too.

They should have discussed diabetes. Tiredness, weight loss passing more urine can be a sign so he was right to check this but should have discussed with you and obviously ordered the other tests that he had advised you.
i would put it in writing to the practice to advise the bloods that were discussed in consultation have not been undertaken and you want them doing as agreed

Yeah, her posting style is really, really familiar.

He’s noted that my weight loss is intentional so not a red flag. I’m just really confused by it all to be honest. It feels like he said one thing in the consultation but then decided it was another?

We all know the NHS is an inefficient shit storm now - but this is easily resolved.

Forget the Diabetes test - I’m tested regularly even though I’ve never shown the slightest hint of it, and I’m not overweight. I think they do them as a matter of course now.

Judt do an email or EConsult requesting the thyroid test etc.

Why are you so reluctant to take the obvious step of talking to the people who can sort this ie your Medical Practise? Until you do you aren't going to know if this was deliberate or accidental and what needs to be done to fix it.

Ferritin & thyroid tests always take ages to come back as they are non-urgent tests.

It's worth checking in another week or so to see if the tests are back.

Thyroid is something that's monitored over a longer period as you get abnormal raised TSH for some time before it becomes treatable.

The tests you have so far rule out anything serious so try to relax about your health.

You can buy a thyroid screen test for under £20 in a supermarket.

Otherwise put in a routine request to your GP to check thyroid.

I'm a bit confused - is there any chance they were all done but not all the results have come in?
Can you ring your surgery and ask the staff on the desk to look on your notes to what tests were asked for?
In our surgery we would speak to either reception or email and say DR forgot to do X and they would be asked and X would appear on our file to be done

My daughter has an underactive thryoid and has for years. It tends to be because you have autoimmune and your body is killing off your thryoid (unfort) They don't actually do anything about an underactive thryoid until your thryoid is so bad that its not functioning at all and then they give you thryoid medication for life. Say the NHS guideliness is less than 4.2 ... my daughter's recently was over 7 and that's not enough for them to consider medication.

Stop worrying! Just ask for these to be done, simple.

So if it’s recorded on your gp notes on the nhs app that they were going to do a thyroid test, screen shot it, phone up the surgery and ask if they can check what tests you were sent for and if all the results are all in. If they say yes all tests are in ask them for the thyroid result. If they say there isn’t one, ask them to check the consultation notes on said day as you have them in front of you and it states thyroid test. Then ask them to get the gp to send you for one. Whining about it before you’ve actually done anything about it makes you seem hard work and your responses on here make you sound like you like being a permanent victim.

As far as the diabetes test, ffs get over it. You probably didn’t specify all the other tests individually either so why so upset for something that you have elevated risk factors for. You’d have been glad they tested you if it turned out you had diabetes. Just because your pancreas is working fine now, doesn’t mean it will carry on working fine, forever.
I went to the dr’s recently for hair loss and fatigue, turns out I’m B12 deficient, which makes sense for the fatigue, hair loss is probably menopause or the fact I’ve lost 4 stone in weight or both! They had to do a whole host of tests and also did the diabetic one, I didn’t get offended, I’d rather be tested than not, because I have risk factors for it too!
I also hate getting my blood taken, but trust me when I say the needles are much thinner than they used to be 30 years ago and with the vacuum tubes means you only get stabbed once. I have another 2 to look forward to in the next 2 months!

Next time, before doing the big woah is me routine, try to sort it out or find out all the info from the source. Yes it’s annoying but but ffs it’s called adulting!

Being overweight is one of the biggest risk factors. Even if you were only overweight for a short period & have now lost weight you still have an increased risk of diabetes.
Diagnosing & treating diabetes is really important & has far more serious consequences than hypothyroidism.

If you still have symptoms book in with the GP in a couple of months to review & see if additional blood tests are needed.

I would contact via app or email. You’ll have a paper trial then.
When I’ve discussed things via phone the notes in the app are often VERY different to the discussion and you have no evidence of what has been said.

It’s not great, but it seems more like there may have been a clerical error that needs to be brought to their attention. If you have e-consult at your surgery, this would be a great way to contact them to ask for the correct blood tests to be taken. More concerning, if there was a patient mix-up, the person who was supposed to get those blood tests may not have realised that there has been an error. I understand that it’s very frustrating though. I had a blood test missed one time and it turned out that the lab can overrule the doctor’s decision if they feel it’s not needed. I got an apology from the GP and the blood test I needed.

I’ve also noticed that if my results are ‘Normal’, they’re approved by non-medical staff. If they’re ’Abnormal’, they’re seen by a doctor. So it’s unlikely the doctor has even seen them. I wouldn’t ring them. Email would be better. Then you have a paper trail, and they have time to look and spot the mistake.

Then get on the phone, explain this & get them to expedite the requisite tests. Don't come on MN roaring about it, then replying to all advice 'ooh, I can't do that, I've been gaslit!' I'm sympathetic to your previous problems with Drs but that is not a reason not to act.

call the surgery and ask the receptionist to message the doctor asking for another blood test form

That's so odd. Our hospital trust has a website where you book same day blood tests. Anyone can use it. As long as the GP has ordered them, you turn up and the test results are in the app in 48hrs.

Only the old and infirm can use the surgery nurses for blood tests.

You could ask if this is a thing in your trust?

Oh and op, I'm normal weight, never been fat and every set of bloods I have done includes the diabetes one.

Re the weight loss - hypothyroidism can present differently in different people. DH has always been very lean, his symptoms of hypothyroidism were fatigue abd feeling generally blegh, which resulted in him eating much less than he normally does. So he had weight loss as a symptom, which resolved once his was on meds and feeling better, though I agree it’s not typical!

Try not to take it personally. My husband went in with some very general symptoms, tiredness, etc., nothing specific to diabetes, they did a Hba1c and it showed he had pre diabetes. He was only just within the overweight BMI range by a couple of kg and in his thirties. I think it must be a really cheap test, I imagine they just do it because it picks up the odd case early.