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I've been given out of date swabs

2 replies

MrsA6 · 23/08/2018 08:23

Saw my GP earlier this week as I'm having a coil fitted. He gave me two vaginal self swabs to do at home and drop back to the surgery.

I went to do them last night and discovered one of them is three weeks out of date. Obviously that's not a long time at all but the expiry date is on the test bottle so presumably the lab could refuse to test.

I've got hold of a new swab, but I'd like to feedback to the surgery in a helpful way. I'm really keen it doesn't come across as a complaint (I'm not cross about it and the surgery and doctors are great) but just wanted to let them know in case they need to recheck the dates on their stock.

Does anyone have any advice about how to word an email or letter? I thought I'd call but then got worried it could get misinterpreted by the receptionist as 'Mrs X phoned because she was annoyed Dr B gave her an old swab' and noone would do anything. My DH is a GP and agreed writing would be better as then they have a record, rather than a message from a phone call.

OP posts:
bellainthemiddle · 23/08/2018 09:08

I would say it pretty much as you've said it here - 'I am getting in touch to let you know about X. Please don't worry - this isn't a complaint and hasn't caused me any problems as I was able to get hold of one, but I thought that it might be helpful to let you know in case you may want to re-check dates on your stock'. I'm sure they will take it as helpful feedback rather than a complaint - after all, if there is an issue with the date, it's probably going to save them a huge headache!

MrsA6 · 23/08/2018 11:25

Thanks, Bella. Sounds good - I'm a bit of a waffler usually!

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