SHORTAGE OF BLOOD BOTTLES

The NHS has advised us of a shortage of the bottles needed for blood tests, which is having a major impact on healthcare providers all around the country.

We have been instructed that until further notice we must follow national guidance and will only be able to perform the most clinically urgent blood tests.

Over the coming week we will be contacting patients to advise them that their booked non-urgent blood test appointment has had to be postponed and we will not be booking any new routine or non-urgent tests.   If you do not hear from us to cancel your appointment then please make sure you attend.  We understand that this may cause anxiety for some patients, but please be assured that as soon as supplies of blood bottles are made more easily available,  we will be re-booking these appointments.

If your condition or symptoms require an urgent test then this will be given priority.  Examples of clinically urgent testing include:

• Bloods that are required to facilitate a two-week wait referral
• Bloods that are extremely overdue and/or are essential for safe prescribing of medication or monitoring of a condition
• Bloods that (if taken) could avoid a hospital admission
• Bloods for suspected sepsis or conditions with a risk of death or disability

At the present time we have no definitive information on when the supply of blood test bottles will improve, but we will keep our patients informed and will be posting updates on our website and on social media.

Thank you for your patience and for bearing with us.  Please bear in mind that our telephone lines are currently extremely busy and we are already struggling to deal with very high numbers of incoming calls; please do not contact us with queries about this unless you believe that you have a clinically urgent problem.

Your GP Practice

Please be aware that our trial with Engage Consult has ended.  We will be looking to implement a new E-consulting service in Autumn of this year. Until our new E-Consultation service is implemented consultations will revert to telephone or face to face appointments where clinically indicated.

Please visit the special Covid-19 page for more information