For those in England & Wales

[DougyW]

For those who travel to their hospital but get bloods done at GPs etc a little cautionary tale. I recently moved to Devon and chose to be treated in RDE Exeter. I was getting bloods taken in my GPs. However due to a. Hange in contract for GPs they will no longer provide this service. That leaves me to change to a closer hospital or face regular long round trips just to get blood taken. Hope others have more helpful GPs

[Ipheion25]

I can relate to this! My GP practice does not do blood tests so I have to travel to hospital by bus and walking, which I can manage, but it seems so unnecessary, especially as when I get there it is packed and there is a long wait and it would be much safer for someone with a compromised immune system to have this done locally in a safe environment.

[Crossefield in reply to Ipheion25]

I'm under The Christie in Manchester. Their rule is distance based. If you live over x miles away you can have your bloods on the same day as your appointment. I live too close but when I have a face to face (not telephone) I plead the potential loss of two days earnings and they allow me bloods on same day. For telephone appointments I don't mind driving in for bloods two days before. The Christie also has a bloods at home service which isn't really at home but is closer. Staff will spend a half day in the community doing bloods at various locations. We made use of this for my Mum. You book a slot, turn up and it's done in five minutes. Whereas, at the hospital it can take 1.5 hrs due to how busy they are.

[summerdown in reply to Crossefield]

Thanks for your warning. I also have bloods taken at GP surgery and a phone call later from the hospital with the results. This works well but I do not have a face to face appointment with the hospital - not sure if I need it as they keep a good track of the bloods I am. doing OK. It would

[Janbu]

I’m not far from you, Exmoor, but go to Guys hospital for care and the Gp surgery does the bloods. Hope their contract hasn’t changed!

[DougyW in reply to Janbu]

It would be worth checking with your GP. The contract change happens on the 1st April. My GP told me when I had my last blood test. 😒

[Carol0925 in reply to DougyW]

Hi, how were you informed of this change please?

[Izzys-Mum]

I moved from Devon, where my GP did my blood test for the hospital to Dorset where the GP will not do them, like others have said long journey to hospital just for a 2min blood test!

[hall2]

I’ve never had problems getting bloods done at GP

[hall2]

If I attend the hospital for appointment I can get bloods done on same date then wait two hours for results to come back then have the appointment with consultant,perhaps your hospital will do that?

[myllo]

Hi Doug, well it’s the same in Scotland and has been for at least 4 years . Where I live in Fife, my husband has his bloods taken yearly at our Gp centre as a routine screening test for over 65s. I have to travel to my nearest hospital for my regular MPN bloods as Gp won’t test for it! They seem to be increasingly limiting services. Where has “care in the community “ gone?

[nellietheelephamt in reply to myllo]

I'm in Scotland as well and have blood tests every two weeks. I am house bound so the overnight trip to the local hospital is just not possible. The specialist has to write to the district nursing service (write not email) to request a home visit. The letters can take a month from dictation to arrival. It's a nightmare. I "may" get bloods taken on Tuesday for cross matching before the transfusion due on Wednesday.

[Ipadlin]

My experience has evolved in the two years since I was diagnosed too. Although my GP is still doing blood tests I can rarely get an appointment in time for my results to be at the hospital, which have recently gone over to telephone appointments.

So I now have to go to the hospital twice each appointment, once for bloods and once to collect my hydroxy tablets, without seeing a doctor!

[Hydrox in reply to Ipadlin]

I am doing the same, have been for a couple of years now. Bloods at hospital on the Monday, pick meds up frim the hospital on the following Thursday. Since Covid started, it's a telephone call with the specialist nurse every 3 months, then changed to 4 months, now changed to 6 months with the consultant. I just assume as I am 77 years old now that I have been put on the too old to bother list. Thankfully, I don't gave any major problems health wise, fingers crossed.

[DougyW in reply to Hydrox]

Everyone is worth the effort.

[TB66]

Unfortunately this has been a thing for a while where I live and it is a real issue for some people. I’m lucky that I’m able to drive but I’ve spoken to other people and they are really struggling. You’d think that with the bloods being a vital part of our care the doctors would be able to accommodate this. I hope you manage to get yourself sorted soon 😊

[Carol0925]

Hi, I get my bloods done at GP Surgery and can fortunately access my results from the Hospital site. GP surgery is only for phlebotomy. How were you informed re not having your bloods done at GP Surgery?

[DougyW in reply to Carol0925]

The nurse taking my bloods informed me as she was taking my last sample. I then checked with admin on the way out who confirmed this. Apparently there is a contract change from 1st April that is causing many GPs to say no to things they are not funded for. Worth checking with your practice which is why I raised this.

[ETket]

This happened to me in Kent several years ago, my GP told me that they were no longer offering blood tests for the hospital because it came out of their budget rather than the hospital's. From then on, instead of being able to walk or cycle to the local surgery I had to drive to the hospital (battle through the rush hour traffic, try to find a parking space and go running in after work before they closed for the evening). I was supposed to utilise the haematology-oncology phlebotomy service, but because it was only open while I was at work, I had to blag my way in to the general hospital phlebotomy department. For several months, I was having weekly blood tests, before it reduced to fortnightly.

[Hat3]

I'm in Tavistock, West Devon and with the haematology department at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. I have no problem getting blood tests at my GP.

[Scaredy_cat]

Suggest asking the mpn specialist nurse what you should do. Also my hospital would do the Bloods if you arrive 1hr before the appointment

[DougyW in reply to Scaredy_cat]

Most of my appointments are by phone. The specialist would have my blood results from the test I'd get at the GPs 2 days before. Simpler for them & me

[jointpain]

My wife has bloods taken at each hospital appointment here in Wales, also when she attends Christie's in Manchester, if she needs more frequent blood tests and an appointment at the blood clinics are not available, which is becoming more the case, she can go to the cancer clinic and get her bloods taken there. Recently getting an iron infusion has become a nightmare as "management" has taken over, so if a quick iron infusion is called for by her falling iron levels, instead of getting it the next day or so after the test, two layer of " managers" who are jobsworth persons get themselves in the way, saying that she needs to be triaged and it's not life threatening and a two week wait won't kill her, after saying they are "busy" working their way through the lists of patients. Which didn't exist previously!God help the NHS once NHS England go, and then NHS Wales go, if they exist.

[DougyW in reply to jointpain]

But it's the central managers of NHS England/ Wales that were getting in the way. Hopefully this will empower the clinicians

[quanglewangle]

Wow!I am 82, in Scotland (25 miles from hospital) with ET, Coeliac, pacemaker-equipped, pancreatic insufficient but all conditions under control. GP surgery (so far) takes bloods whenever required (including on behalf of hospital departments )- even when I attended for my first-ever 'annual' checkup and my annual Coeliac check-up (I suspect they get recompensed for these activities)..

So far so good - but came up against a snag when at the hospital (Gastroenterology) and gave blood; as it was close to my programmed blood let for Haematology I cancelled that one and asked for a copy from the hospital only to run into a bureaurocratic wall - apparently although I could pass the identify verification questions I still had to complete a formal written request - so I downloaded the form, filled it in sent it in and waited, A few days later an email arrived with another copy of the form so I filled that one in asking for the FBC results from the recent pacemaker replacement.

Results from form 1 came three months later and from form 2 never at all!

Plus a request to the GP pointed me at the hospital for results of FBCs done at the hospital. GRRR....

However an email request to the GP surgery (not allowed by telephone nowadays) produced (the same day) a printout of all of the FBC results including both hospital and GP-taken samples.

Where is there any evidence of joined up thinking !?

[StigerP]

Hi DougyW.

I also experienced this change early last year.

My GP is 300 yards from my house. Prior to the change, taking blood at the GP would take about 10 mins.

The nearest hospital Northampton General (NGH) is approx. 6 miles. Like most hospitals, parking is horrendous, so either my wife drops me off, parks in a supermarket car park, approx. 1/2 mile away or I go by bus.

Either way, because of the queues at the NGH Blood Taking Unit, sometimes out the door in all weathers, the process can take up to 2 hours.

So much for putting patients first.

[DougyW in reply to StigerP]

I was travelling 30 miles so I could be seen by a unit with an MPN specialist. Due to the impact of Peggy on my Neutrophils I get an FBC every 2 weeks. I'm now having to change to a closer hospital and a general Haemologist. This will cost the NHS & myself more money + time. This is truly stupid.

[mhos61 in reply to DougyW]

Sorry to hear how this change has impacted your health care.

Can you arrange to have ‘shared care’ with your former MPN Specialist hospital? This is what I do, I think it is so important to have an MPN Specialist on board. I live in Notts, but have ‘shared care’ with Guys. My ET is pretty much indolent, so I am happy to have telephone consultations for now, although I am having a ‘face to face’ with Guys next month.

My GPs have never provided blood tests to my local hospital since my diagnosis in 2016. However, when I successfully requested to have ‘shared care’ with Guys I contacted my GP to inform him this would mostly be ‘telephone consultations’ in part due to Covid restrictions at the time, but also travel distance, hence needed blood tests to be forwarded on. An arrangement was made twice a year to have my bloods taken at GPs and forwarded on to Guys by email - hoping that stays in place! I must say, I have had to project manage this at times though!

[nellietheelephamt in reply to StigerP]

26 miles to my "local" hospital, I no longer drive and no public transport so in the recent past I have had to cancel appointments as I just can't get there. First wheelchair accessible taxi would be a 10am pick up as before that it has school runs.

[AndyT]

I gave up on GP blood tests a few years ago, due to difficulties getting an appointment and their lack of understanding of some of the tests needed. Luckily my hospital isn’t too far away and although it’s busy the walk-in phlebotomy service is efficient, so overall it works better for me.

I can understand the challenge however if you’re hospital is a long way away. Hope you find a good solution.

[DougyW in reply to AndyT]

My hospital used to put their requirements on the ICE system, the GP would take the test and the result would go to both + the NHS App for me. That way I got the results next day and the interpretation was done by the hospital if required. This worked brilliant for me as I could walk to the GPs in 15 mins and rarely waited more than 10 minutes.

[AndyT in reply to DougyW]

That sounds great - much more joined up than here!

[MWxxxx]

This was on the local news this week and related to North Devon. People were saying they were having to travel over a 100 miles round trip for a blood test. As others have said, it is to do with a change in contract and means some GP surgeries won't carry out blood tests for hospital patients as they are not being paid for them. I think this will be coming to many across the country in the near future. It's fine if you live near your hospital or near a diagnostic test centre but people in rural areas, especially those who are disabled or rely on public transport will have serious problems. The news article was quick to stress it only relates to bloods for hospital patients and GP surgeries will continue as normal for tests they request, but it is generally those who are hospital patients who are more likely to have difficulties travelling.

[Exeter21]

No I could get bloods at my surgery but they made it so difficult to get an appointment over past 2 years I gave up & just do the walk in bloods at RDE Exeter. My surgery was funded to do it but obviously did not need the custom .😱

[mazeoffire]

We have a community health centre that seems to do blood tests for all the GPs in the town. It’s a drop in clinic every day, which is actually really handy. I am not diagnosed though, hoping for a haematology referral.

[FlorenceBlue]

Hi DougyW, I'm also under the rd&e Heamotology team & wondered how your finding them in terms of their knowledge of mpns? I've just had to complain to pals as although uo u till now the team have been great the dr (not a consultant) at my last visit 2 weeks ago was very dismissive & made me feel as if I shouldn't be asking questions, pushing everything back to my gp, who just tells me to ask heamo. Very confusing!

Ref getting bloods done, I was told to contact Community bloods who run clinics in the local community hospitals near my area (east devon) so this is where I go a couple of days before the appointment. I can share the number with you on here if you need it/that would be of help. Hope your settling into Devon well.