Blood forms

[jane1976]

Hi all! How are you doing with getting blood forms? I used to be given a wad of them by RA nurse on each visit but, now it's like trying to get blood out of a stone, pardon the pun, I rang the nurse for some blood forms & she sent a letter to my GP & to me asking my GP to provide me with the blood forms. I'm to have bloods done every 2 weeks for a while. I had to take my letter to the surgery for it to be photo copied to prove I neede the forms! I don't know what happened to their copy? I eventually got 3, yes 3 blood forms & couldn't believe it that ESR & CRP (inflammation markers) HAD NOT BEEN TICKED that's the whole point of the tests!! I've added them myself!

[nomoreheels]

I used to have to take a blood test request form to the analysis dept at hospital to have bloods done when I lived abroad, my Consultant marked it off & gave it to me before leaving. I had them done the week before my next appointment & we discussed the out of norm results when I saw him/her. Here back in the UK I don't see a form, it's all computerised & I just turn up on the appointment made with the nurse at my previous bloods & my previous months results are entered from the screen into the results book I was given when I first saw the Rheumy here to reinstate my meds, bloods taken, appointment booked & I'm done til next month.

[JacquiThomas999 in reply to nomoreheels]

I only have a form if I have to go to my local hospital for the tests. Otherwise, the vampire comes, out calls my name and when she sees that it is me, prints out the form while I am getting ready. She will have a shock next time though, I need fasting bloods for my cholesterol Dr as well as MTX.

[nomoreheels in reply to JacquiThomas999]

That's odd, I'm told there's no need to fast before cholesterol bloods any more, they're just taken when my monitoring bloods are taken. 

[JacquiThomas999]

Glad that yours are done together. But the Dr (consultant) gets what the Dr wants. So on Monday I will organise the tests for second week in May. Hopefully this time the consultant will sign me off to the GP for cholesterol. He was going to at Christmas but then RA happened and he was concerned about MTX and the dosage of statin on my liver.

[nomoreheels in reply to JacquiThomas999]

It's all so confusing though isn't it. It would be easier if it was one way or the other each time. Maybe after this blood test he'll hand the responsibility over to your GP. Mine takes care of all my CV issues, vitamin level checks etc & it makes life far easier, I don't even have to remember because it flags up on screen so it's done when I'm there.

[flow4]

I got 4 forms from the rheumy nurse when I started on MTX. I used the first two, and then lost the others... The practice nurse just printed out duplicates, copying what was on the original. It was no problem at all.

[sylvi]

If i run out of forms i get them fom my rheumy dept. I also get a wad of them when i go visit.xxxx

[Scottiedottie]

All computerised too here. Hand the book into the phlebotomist who prints out form. Gave me a spare in case the printer is ever down. Also get text messages very 2 weeks to remind me when bloods due.

[DC56]

Hi why can't your doctor just tell the nurses to book you in then they should fill the forms out that's how ours work it's a lot easier x

[Maggie_May]

Hi Jane,

I am having the same sort of problems with blood forms. I last say my Rheumy doc in Feb and she gave me two,  I have a blood test every two weeks and my next appt with her is in June so I knew I would have another chore on my hands. I phoned her secretary who very kindly said " No problem I will send you some " She sent me one !! Looks like I will be spending a lot of time on the phone  

[Jacey15]

I get mine from my GP surgery. If I need more, I ring a couple of days in advance and they have printed me several to pick up and use whenever I need.

[sallyeb]

I'm in Northamptonshire and I just turn up at my GP and they print off form and take blood. All computerised and has been for years . I can go to hospital too it is my choice. It's a fab system. I didn't realise in other areas you still needed the blood test forms

Sally

[eastbournelady]

i also have to leave a sae just so they post me results as otherwise if i phone they just say sarisfactory even if esr is high and i need a steroid injection.

[oldtimer]

My local health board has a protocol for the necessary blood tests that is accessed by the practice phlebotomist when I attend. If I need anything extra, I can tell her, and usually it is just added, but a new phlebotomist was nervous about this last time and checked with the GP first.

[purplecats]

I got a letter before Christmas from Rheumatology saying that they were no longer doing my bloods and that I had to have them done through my GP. Such a pain as I used to have a load of forms and get the bloods done at the hospital after work. I've now got to fight for appointments at my GP and take time out of work to go. 

[Hidden]

Hmmm we're new to all this. Doesn't bode well. Hubby has had first blood test and our GP has given us 2 more forms. When we went for his first blood test she said the GP had missed something off and she ticked it instead!! Must keep an eye on that thanks xx

[Stephenlangtonriley]

I am amazed at the variety of different methods employed for blood tests. I recently had to stop my Clopidogrel, due to excessive bruising, looked like I had been in the ring with Mike Tyson, and also was due an epidural so had to stop them. My GP booked a blood test with the practice phlebotomist and I booked a follow up the next week, which the GP hadn't booked, but she did it anyway. The second result had low haemoglobin, so when I saw my GP, he was surprised at me having a second test but even more surprised at the result, so had another one. When I saw him again it had high white cell and low red cell count :), so he booked another one. I will find out tomorrow. I never see a form it is all computerised.

In between all this they didn't do a script for vitamin D and my diazepam, didn't tell me, I found out when I collected. The pharmacy called, on the private line, I got a very stroppy then apologetic receptionist who said ready next day, went again, not ready, called and they said 16:30, so I had a pint of anaesthetic next door, went back and was told I needed to see the doctor, another phone call the next morning to make it an emergency and was told I needed another blood test and given the script.  All this going out resulted in me having to take diazepam every day as all this was unplanned travel, the admin communication is abysmal beyond contempt, for me, but my GP is brilliant. They have continued to get it wrong, ignoring the online system messages for scripts, so another complaint, with the evidence this time, to my GP.

In the end it appears all these surgeries have a different way of doing things, why not a standard? It is total confusion for the patient as we are all in the same country after all. If this is the way a reorganised NHS works then I am unimpressed as, to use the expression, it is not fit for purpose and the good medical staff have to deal with it.

I don't know about anyone else but I get sent to private companies at NHS hospitals for different tests, when the hospital has its own facilities already, it is very disconcerting going to a car park for test, it must be cheaper for the NHS just to employ the staff to use the existing but idle equipment, it seems to be a waste of money paying someone else to do it with their own kit.