Looking for a GP with INR equipment in Croydon, Surrey, Uk

[Laurafraser119]

Does anyone live in the area and have a recommendation of a good GP with the equipment for INR testing?

I'm on lifelong Warfarin for my APS and hoping to find a GP in my area. I'm desperately sick of taking a ticket and spending hours in the hospital phlebotomy queue.

I know you can buy your own machine, but for a few appointments per year, I'd rather save the £300+ and just pop to the Drs for occasional appointments!!

ny suggestions would be grsat.

NHS direct is no good for searching, anticoagulation, warfarin and INR all return no responses when searchinv the service register.

When I lived in Berkshire all the GPs had them!

[Jumper99]

Isn’t that crazy? They aren’t testing for APS, they are testing INR, not the same thing. After all, we do home testing and we are not qualified to test for APS! I send my INR to the anticoag clinic by email and they very quickly send back my dosing instructions and date of next test. It works really well. I can phone them if I have problems. The GP surgery or the patient could easily do the same if tested at the surgery. My doctors here don’t have a finger prick machine and I raised it with the nurse saying how much money and time they could save.

If everyone (who felt competent to do so) home tested think of all the money the nhs could save.

Thank you for making that point to,the CCG. When the weather cools down and I hopefully get my brain back I will try to write to them.

The other issue that is unfair for our GPs is that when they prescribe the strips for home testing it goes against their drugs budget. But if they do a venous sample it doesn’t cost anything. So my surgery refuses to prescribe the strips which is unfair for me. But if you look at the nhs as a whole it’s far more expensive for a venous sample to be used because of all the labour involved.

[poppystorey in reply to Jumper99]

I cant beleive this goes on in this day and age ,ijust get my INR done at the health centre warfarin clinic ,when required ,do hope you soon get a doctor sorted being on warfarin you never know when an emergency may crop up .iwish you well

POPPYSTOREY

[Laurafraser119]

Thanks so much for this response, I will indeed write to my MP. It's mad that we're falling through the gap due to red tape!

I also emailed GHIC ([e-mail]) and they helped me find anticoag clinics nearby. I went to Purley Memorial Hospital which is co-located with Keston Medical practice GP AND they do the finger prick at the hosp rather than IV and sending it off for testing (which surely wastes time and money!!). I can't praise Purley War Memorial Hosp enough, they went out of their way to help me and I'll be registering at Keston too, would recommend both to anyone else in Purley, Croydon, Uk area. Thanks again for your quick response and suggestions

[MaryF Administrator]

Well, good to know that progress is on the way albeit at snail's pace. APsnotFAB found all that information for you. MaryF

[tss1hsc]

Laura,

I live in the US and did take Warfarin for several years for A-Fib. It is a good med and you can do self testing, but you still need a primary doc to submit the readings to so that he can advise you if the reading is abnormal. Warfarin has an antidote wheras the other anti-coagulants don't. One other med that interacts terribly with Warfarin is Cefdinir (an antibiotic) which sent my INR up to 9.2, caused internal bleeding and landed me in Intensive Care for a week. I had the flu and a doc that I don't normally use prescribed the Cefdinir without checking my other prescriptions. You can go to Webmd.com to see what meds interact with Warfarin and you should because a lot of drugs do. Another thing to consider is what you eat, particularly greens, and try to eat the same amt. of greens on a regular schedule. (They can thin your blood if you eat a lot of green veggies at one time.)

Good Luck.

Thelma S.