DP went private for venous blood draw for blood test, but the person he saw couldn't get enough blood to fill the vial

[Hyacinthbulb]

Hi. Yesterday my DP went for a venous blood draw which he paid for privately. He said that when he attended, the clinician was unable to extract enough blood from his arm. She then tried to get it from his other arm, but was again unable to. After being unsuccessful with both arms, she advised him to make another appointment and "drink plenty of water". He was surprised by this as he'd had a cup of tea and a glass of water within a couple of hours of the appointment. He said he didn't feel particularly dehydrated. He also said the clinician he saw didn't seem to know what she was doing, and apparently was in a bit of a huff about not being able to draw enough blood to fill the vial.

He has had blood draws done multiple times in the past, (some private and some NHS) and he said that 90% of the time they are able to draw enough blood from his left arm to fill the vial with no problems. When they haven't been able to on the first attempt, they either try his other arm, or they ask another clinician to do it, and they have always been successful on the second try. He says he thinks the clinician was incompetent. There was no other clinician available to do it. Having done some quick Googling, I've read that often the success of venous blood draws is dependent on the skill and experience of the clinician.

He is understandably quite annoyed having paid over £100 for the test and driven all the way to the clinic location and back, and now having to go back. He doesn't want to see the same clinician in case it happens again. It was arranged through a company called Medichecks. They send a testing kit to your home address and then you arrange the blood draw itself through one of their "partner clinics". He doesn't know if he can use the testing kit again as it's been touched by the clinician he saw, so he is now trying to get Medichecks to send him another kit. Has anyone here ever had any problem with venous blood draws, whether done privately or through the NHS? How would you expect the matter to be resolved if they aren't able to draw enough blood to fill the vial?

It does seem odd. Medichecks have lots of options in my area. Is there only one clinic near you? You can also use finger prick blood collection

This happens to me often on the NHS. Its not guaranteed. I'd expect them ro rebook you free of charge. I had a private MRI recently and they couldn't get the signal properly because I was allergic to the latex pads so they had to ordersome different ones. They rebooted for this and didnt charge my insurer again.

A lady comes to my house every 3 months to take bloods for basic bichemistry and haemotology and charges £15.
I could have it done free via the doctors but the private service can actually give me an exact time and the doctors can only give the date.
I'm fat and have thready veins but have never had problems.
I only write this as I'm surprised at the fee that your husband is paying.
Hope he's better soon

By your own admission only 90% have worked previously so 1 in 10 fail so it happened before
I think he’s being really unfair these things happen to get 1/2 a vile they are obviously in the vein

sometimes the vacue tube can be faulty so it won’t fill
a cup of tea and a glass of water is not well hydrated
tea contains caffeine and is a diuretic
he needs to drink plenty beforehand and a pint of water shortly before as that will swell his stomach which will put pressure on on the venous nerve which increase blood flow/pressure
make sure arms are warm as veins contract when cold
is he overweight? That makes sampling very difficult
venous sampling is a skill it is difficult it also it also depends on the person having the sample if the come across as a bit arsey when the first one fails it knocks the confidence of the person when they go in for the 2nd attempt

Once the needle is in opening and closing the fist on that hand helps keep the blood flowing.

Everybody finds it really hard to get any blood out of me now, due to a long term medical condition that I have. The only sure fire way is to take it from my hands. A butterfly needle and no problem. But out of my arms now, never!

Needs to been very hydrated from the previous day too. This happens.

there's never a guarantee it's going to go smoothly and it sounds like it's not been that straightforward in the past. If they managed to get some blood then they were in a vein and the failure is probably not technician dependent, but just one of those things. Suspect the private companies may have less access to the more old fashioned techniques some of us in the NHS might use that work well for more difficult veins - if the company uses vacutainers, they quite often suck too hard for really small veins. If he does have limited veins it may be worth having a think about how necessary the bloods are - are they important enough to risk damaging the veins that are still there?

Why would you pay for a private blood test?

I have to drink water the day before and on the day, eat a good breakfast and keep warm and have an appointment later in the day if I want to guarantee a successful appointment. I can just rock on up and they might find a vein but I have been sent away.

It’s easy to assume that you’d get better service going private than on the NHS but at the end of the day you can’t buy good veins. Venepuncture is a skill that takes years of practice to get good at, but even the most experienced phlebotomist will have trouble if your veins are thin, deep or fragile.
As previous posters have said, being well hydrated is essential. Water or squash is better than tea/coffee. Avoid alcohol the day before, too.
And don’t turn up freezing cold! Wear a warm coat and gloves until just before going in, and sit in the waiting room doing hand-squeezing exercises to boost blood flow in the arms.

I appreciate the replies from you all. A previous poster mentioned vacutainers - that's what private companies generally use, and is also what was included in the blood testing kit. I'm not sure why using a vacutainer would impact the phlebotomist's ability to retrieve blood from the arm - if they were a hindrance then I would assume private companies wouldn't use them. I don't know if the NHS use them. Anyway, DP has left a bad review for the clinic he visited and has booked another appointment at another clinic. Hopefully the next appointment will be successful.

I think leaving a negative review was unnecessary, being unable to draw blood is a fairly common problem. It’s often more to do with the patient than the professional!

Left a bad review? how petty.
My youngest DD has always required multiple attempts for blood draw, she’s got sneaky veins🤣
A glass of water and a cuppa over several hours isn’t drinking plenty.

Leaving a bad review was not necessary. The clinician was in the vein if they managed to get half the vial. Yes it's inconvenient having to drive back to the clinic again but if there were no other clinicians available at the time to come in and try then what else can they do- they aren't magicians and some people's veins are harder to get blood out of than others.

He also did not sound well hydrated- caffeine actually dehydrates you so he needs to drink much more water next time to ensure he is hydrated enough. Unsurprisingly, clinicians working in the private sector are not going to see patients with difficult veins as much as staff in the nhs, as their patients are far more diverse and more likely to have chronic conditions that give them difficult veins.

Call your GP to book in some bloods.

vacutainers suck quite hard - if the vein is small it may suck too hard so that it's impossible to get enough blood. That's why some of us go old school for the more tricky customer and use a needle and syringe - it can work better. We do use vacutainers in the nash, but we also sometimes adjust things according to the patient in front of us ...that may be less likely in the private. Not everything is better just because you're paying for it. (FWIW, am an anaesthetist not a phlebotomist...you know the veins are naff when we get called just to do the bloods!)

I forgot to mention that in this case, the term 'clinic' could perhaps be seen as a misnomer. The place DP went to for the blood draw was a small room in the back of a Superdrug store. I wouldn't count that as a clinic myself. They are one of the "partner clinics" used by Medichecks which I mentioned in my post. He has booked another appointment in an actual private hospital. It's quite a bit further away than the Superdrug but he is hoping for a better outcome.

Can’t he go to the GP/nurse?

Plenty of water beforehand - at least a litre - and keep a hot water bottle on the arm you want the draw from. I have difficult veins and this always helps.

Absolutely unnecessary to leave a bad review
most of us over the years will of had an unsuccessful blood draw it happens

do hope you included in your review that your husband wasn’t suitably hydrated

Leaving a bad review was unnecessary. I’ve got to be very well hydrated to stand a chance at least a litre of water before a blood draw. I get regular hospital blood tests and it sometimes fails on both arms and they have to use my hand.
Caffeine makes blood draws harder so he hadn’t helped the process.

I find cuddling a hot water bottle in my arms helps brings the veins out, and drink lots of fluids (not just on the day of the test).

You sound like a petty arse, who has no idea of the technical skill involved. Also its a complete non story. Man goes to have bloods taken, is slightly dehydrated, difficult attempt x2, asked to return. He has hardly had the wrong leg amputated has he?
Do you never fail at anything in your job?

Hello. I would like to share a quick update on this. DP went to an alternative location yesterday to have another venous blood draw. It was at a hospital that does blood draws for both NHS and private patients. The attempt was successful. The phlebotomist who he saw on this occasion was excellent. He was straight in and out.

He has said that he will be sending positive feedback through the hospital website for how efficient it was. The key difference this time was that it was an actual healthcare professional who did the blood draw. That he had such a positive experience has further solidified his belief (and mine) that the "clinician" in Superdrug whom he saw last week was simply not competent enough to do it. The phlebotomist he saw in the hospital drew blood from the same arm, in almost the exact same place in his arm, using the exact same equipment. They didn't have the slightest bit of trouble.