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Original poster

Anyone work in a GP surgery / blood lab? Reassurance please!

37 replies

Ariba · 03/01/2025 11:23

Putting this in Scotsnet cause it may be Scotland specific how this is done.

My teen DS has been getting frequent nosebleeds for a while, now they seem to be happening every day. He is also a bit tired and pale.

He went to the GP on Tuesday (31st Dec) who did a blood test.

I am really worrying about this, when I looked it up, came up possible leukaemia. I know you shouldn't look it up but I am really worried about him. He's yawning already after sleeping all night and already had a nosebleed this morning.

Phoned surgery this morning and they said results are not back yet from the lab. I'm up to high doe. Is it a good sign the results are not back yet? Do the labs work over the New Year period, or are things slower? If anything wrong with platelets, would the GP have the results by now?

I know no one can give a definitive answer, but would maybe help to know how these things work, especially over bank holidays.

Thanks xx

OP posts:
Growsomeballswoman · 03/01/2025 11:41

My experience is that they will call you very urgently if there is a problem. They lab will contact the GP in some cases

Destiny123 · 03/01/2025 11:45

Ariba · 03/01/2025 11:23

Putting this in Scotsnet cause it may be Scotland specific how this is done.

My teen DS has been getting frequent nosebleeds for a while, now they seem to be happening every day. He is also a bit tired and pale.

He went to the GP on Tuesday (31st Dec) who did a blood test.

I am really worrying about this, when I looked it up, came up possible leukaemia. I know you shouldn't look it up but I am really worried about him. He's yawning already after sleeping all night and already had a nosebleed this morning.

Phoned surgery this morning and they said results are not back yet from the lab. I'm up to high doe. Is it a good sign the results are not back yet? Do the labs work over the New Year period, or are things slower? If anything wrong with platelets, would the GP have the results by now?

I know no one can give a definitive answer, but would maybe help to know how these things work, especially over bank holidays.

Thanks xx

Yes labs work 247, slightly reduced on BH themselves, otherwise normal service

When I did a gp job it was normally up to a week to get normal bloods back

Anything grossly abnormal will be flagged to the gp/ooh service the same day and the patient will be told to attend A&E asap

wrped · 03/01/2025 11:51

results for routine blood tests can take awhile to report, abnormal results are flagged and reported straightaway

wrped · 03/01/2025 11:53

no news maybe good news but it depends what tests were requested by the Dr

RuthW · 03/01/2025 12:18

Growsomeballswoman · 03/01/2025 11:41

My experience is that they will call you very urgently if there is a problem. They lab will contact the GP in some cases

Exactly this.

Original poster
Ariba · 03/01/2025 12:37

@Growsomeballswoman (love the name!) and @RuthW . Thanks. Bloods were sent on the afternoon of 32st. My GP was closed the 1st and the 2nd. Would the labs have left a message for the GP or had the results already to the GP waiting for when they opened, if it was serious?

@Destiny123 Thank you. I didn't know that about labs or OOH. So they were sent to lab on 31st in afternoon. Phoned GP at 11am today, which is the earliest they give results, and the person said they are not back yet. So if grossly abnormal, the lab would have got OOH to call over the holiday then?

@wrped Thanks. Is this reporting by the lab you mean?
He went to GP 31st and she took the blood there and then also his weight, think it
was a normal full blood count.

OP posts:
fivebyfivebuffy · 03/01/2025 13:09

You would know if it was serious

In my experience

Dad went for bloods, they sent an ambulance and the doctor also went as they were so concerned and he went straight in for 2 blood transfusions

I got a call at 7pm asking where I was and telling me to go straight to the Macmillan haematology unit, got there and they were all masked (pre Covid) and my bloods were very abnormal

RuthW · 03/01/2025 17:57

The hospital would have contacted out of hours to contact you if it was urgent and surgery closed

wrped · 03/01/2025 18:04

if it was a seriously abnormal full blood count your partner would be contacted same day

Original poster
Ariba · 03/01/2025 18:45

@wrped Thank you. It's my DS who's 15. It's just waiting I guess. Don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but the amount of nosebleeds and paleness is concerning me, and I'm not quick to jump to these things, DS rarely been to doctor before. If the results were abnormal ie wbc out or platelets out, but not like immediately life threatening, would they still have let us know by now?

OP posts:
MotherJessAndKittens · 03/01/2025 18:54

If there is a serious concern they would either contact you direct or via OOH. It's now 3rd so not a PH (in Scotland 1/1 and 2/1 are public holidays). Abnormal results for a 15 year old would be referred to paediatric department.

Original poster
Ariba · 03/01/2025 19:42

@MotherJessAndKittens Thank you very much. Would something wrong with the blood which could possibly be leukaemia, even if chronic or slow and could wait days - be classed as serious, or no? I'm just trying to work out if the fact I have not been contacted means that everything is completely fine with his blood, or there could still be something sinister but not immediate, like what blood results do they class as serious?

I realise I just need to wait, but I'm so worried. Hiding it from everyone, but I am.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ariba · 03/01/2025 19:45

I have not taken him to out of hours about the nosebleeds as they do stop, but the fact it's daily recently and he's tired is making me think all sorts. Praying it's just some minor thing can be cauterised or something.

OP posts:
RoamingGnome · 03/01/2025 20:24

Honestly no one can tell you his results are totally normal. I think you can be confident there is nothing that requires immediate medical attention (by which I mean hospital care & treatment in next 24/48 hours).

That doesn't rule out something that requires further investigation, but overall the likelihood of serious illness in a young person is very low. Did the GP examine him? If a physical exam was normal (no medical signs of anaemia or lumps or bumps) that's a good thing.

Otherwise I'm afraid the only option is to cross your fingers and wait till Monday. Distract yourself & stay off google. Hopefully it will just be a pesky irritable little blood vessel.

beauborino · 03/01/2025 21:21

Ariba · 03/01/2025 19:45

I have not taken him to out of hours about the nosebleeds as they do stop, but the fact it's daily recently and he's tired is making me think all sorts. Praying it's just some minor thing can be cauterised or something.

My eldest was like this .
Tiredness was due to being a teenage boy and growing .Nose was cauterised (I cried he was fine )and is now a strapping 6ft 4 30 year old man Smile

nattiee · 03/01/2025 21:28

I work in a hospital in England and the clotting and full blood count which would have been done to check for leukaemia. (It's probably the same in Scotland) of anything had of shown up someone would have called you.
And probably would have called you within the hour as those results are usually back with half hour. If his tired all the time he could be anaemic but I hope his ok x

Lobstercrisps · 03/01/2025 21:36

Hi OP, I'm also in England, do you have the NHS app? My blood results always show within 72hrs of them testing.

bradypuss · 03/01/2025 21:37

I agree with above.
It's v likely anything like leukemia you would know by now..
Hope all is ok

OliveThe0therReindeer · 03/01/2025 21:38

When my Dd has blood tests as a small child , there was a result that needed urgent treatment. The lab contacted the consultant and then the GP and the GP phoned my home number for hours until she finally got me about 7pm. This was in the days before mobile phones ). My child had to admitted to hospital the next day.

Then more recently my DS was seen at kids A&E and he needed an MRI scan. They said they had no spaces but then they got an opinion from a consultant and the hospital phoned us while we were driving home from A&E about an hour later to bring him back as they had a slot.

Both of these in the NHS in Scotland .

So my personal experience as a mum is that they will do everything they can to contact you if it’s anything urgent. So please try not to worry so much about your son - in your situation , no news is good news.

sparkleystuff · 03/01/2025 21:40

Same thing happened to my 14 year old son. Pale, lethargic and lots of nose bleeds that took ages to stop. I am an early retired nurse and convinced myself it was sinister. It got cauterized and the bleeding stopped.
I hope it's a similar story for you. X

lifeisacat · 03/01/2025 21:44

Husband has leukaemia. The hospital called us at home at 10pm (had bloods that morning) and told him to come straight in via A&E. Re tested while there too. If it's serious they are quick to act.

Dontletthebedbugsbite2 · 03/01/2025 21:57

Hey, I work in a paeds hospital. Anything abnormal is flagged by the labs & phoned through straight away. Sometimes within the hour. If it's a public holiday labs would contact on call doctor for hospital & someone would call you straight away. He may well be iron deficient etc & they will let you know about that at GP level, but anything sinister you would have been notified by now.

NoSpecialCharacter · 03/01/2025 22:01

Sinister as they’ve said, out of hours would have called you. Abnormal can still be being processed by doctors but non urgent so could be anaemic for example but not a big deal.

typicaltuesdaynight · 03/01/2025 22:11

When my mum was diagnosed with leukaemia the gp did a house call to tell her

Lougle · 03/01/2025 22:34

The labs will phone through, and they won't give the result until they have a named professional they can record as having been notified. If it is very serious, and all other communication fails, someone would be dispatched to the home address. For example, when I was a nurse in outpatients, we had a patient with a very deranged INR (clotting) and another with a very low potassium level. Both got home visits to arrange treatment. In ITU, we regularly got calls saying "What's your name and job role? This patient has this result."

Try not to worry. They would get hold of you somehow.