Blood test results

[Zappata]

Morning all. How does anyone access their blood results? I have never seen mine. GP says he can't access them as they are hospital bloods. I can never get through to the hospital. I had a test a month ago as I was flaring but heard nothing since. Am I to assume they are ok? I went up by 5mg anyway and feel much better thankfully thanks to this forum

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Have you tried the NHS-although much of the i formation on that does come via GP?

Maybe contact PALS at local hospital if the Rheumy Dept isn't answering..

[Zappata in reply to DorsetLady]

There's nothing on the NHS app and GP surgery not very helpful. I will try calling rheumatologist again next week - to be fair they did try to call me after I rang last week but I have appalling signal here and lost the call. I really need someone I can call from this end as opposed to them calling me as it's difficult sitting upstairs all day waiting for a call from the only place in the house with a signal. The fault is mine but I have never had access to any of my results - should I be asking the GP or the hospital do you think?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zappata]

Those results should be sent to the GP in a letter. They can take up to a couple of months to arrive - disgusting but there it is. And lot of GPs ignore them. Make a complaint via the Practice Manager - or go over their head to the local commissioner via the ICB (Integrated Care Board), explained here:

england.nhs.uk/contact-us/f...

ombudsman.org.uk/sites/defa...

You could contact the rheumy department secretary (if they still have such a thing) and find out from them. You can also request to be copied in to any letters to the GP. If all else fails at the hospital, contact PALS at the hospital who should be able to track something/someone down.

[Zappata in reply to PMRpro]

I definitely need to be more proactive I know difficult when you're feeling lousy. I had a bulging disc diagnosed following an MRI scan in August but no follow up from that either

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zappata]

Definitely complaint time.

[Zappata in reply to PMRpro]

Yes I am beginning to think you're right. I am too compliant

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zappata]

Move that i around!!!

[Zappata in reply to PMRpro]

Ha ha - will do

[Rubha in reply to Zappata]

My Mum always said you need sharp elbows ....get to the front of the queue. ....sometimes we need to remind ourselves to push for our own benefit. Respectfully buf firmly.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Zappata]

PMRpro has replied so won’t repeat .

[Excelsior80]

I can only see my blood test results online once they reach the GP.

[Zappata in reply to Excelsior80]

Mine never seem to reach the GP 😞

[Bluey-1]

Try contacting your rheumie’s medical secretary and befriend him/her. I call the following day after bloods to get the results so I’m prepared for the appointment the next day. Bizarrely the hospital and GP IT systems aren’t linked. Any bloods from the GP are put on the NHS app which is accessible.

[Zappata in reply to Bluey-1]

Yes thanks - it's getting anything but an answerphone that is the problem. You would think hospitals and GPs were connected seeing as they are both NHS!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zappata]

GPs aren't actually NHS employees - the NHS buys their services. Historical from when the NHS was founded and a cause of a lot of problems.

[BedfordBoy in reply to Zappata]

Hi Zappata,I agree entirely with you. Earlier this year I had agonising leg pain and the doctors surgery sent me to hospital for tests and a scan. I spent 3hours at hospital and I asked what they found. They said because of patients confidentiality they can't tell me! I said well who can tell me then? They said the GP that sent you here. So I rang the surgery and they said it takes a week to come through to them. So I tried again a week later only to be told that the hospital uses a different system to send information to the surgery and nothing has arrived yet! Why on earth do they run 2 different systems? It's a very 3rd world /Micky mouse arrangement.

I've still heard nothing about the results from anybody and feel totally let down by the NHS .

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to BedfordBoy]

They have the patient there, done the test and can't tell the patient because of patient confidentiality?? Seriously??? So if a patient is sent to a walk-in x-ray clinic and they find a broken leg they couldn't tell the patient they need to go to the ED????

[BedfordBoy in reply to PMRpro]

Hi PM Pro,I kid you not! I was waiting for the laughter, but she was serious! It's ridiculous, I am the patient but not important enough to be told what they found.

[Zappata in reply to BedfordBoy]

I think the only answer is to keep badgering them - politely of course otherwise you just get overlooked

[BedfordBoy in reply to Zappata]

Yes, I will go back and remind them that I am the patient and I have a perfect right to know. Fingers crossed!

[piglette]

It took three months once to get my blood test results when done by a rheumatologist. Apparently until she had actually checked them they could not be distributed and she presumably had not looked at them or not bothered to click the ‘distribute’ button. If only we could have one decent computer system, instead of this myriad of systems that do not talk to each other.

[Zappata in reply to piglette]

Absolutely!

[Rugger]

I can access results if the blood is taken at my GP's surgery, but not if it's taken at the hospital. My Rheumatologist does write to my GP and copy me in - you should ask for that facility.

GP's voted in 1948 not to join the NHS, so they are run as private companies, like dentists too! That and maybe other reasons explains why they're not joined up! 😜

[Zappata in reply to Rugger]

I see - I didn't realise that. Does explain a lot

[Pusph]

Join Patients Know Best. I'm afraid I can't remember how I did it but someone on here will know I'm sure. That way you should get your test results very quickly. However, your GP should be sent your test results surely, even if they're hospital tests!

[Sophiestree in reply to Pusph]

I am also on Patients Know Best but it only works if the specific hospital signs up to it. So I get some information from one of the hospitals I go to but not the other one so it's not across the board sadly.

[KASHMIRI1]

I can get mine online but they have recently gone weird and if there are several they all say abnormal but expected even when I know the CPR and ESR, thyroid test and cholesterol were all within normal range. The ones I have done at a different hospital for my rheumy I never see he says he will contact me if there is a problem. When I do see him he has them all plotted into graphs so he can see any worrying increases.

[Nagswoman in reply to KASHMIRI1]

I wondered why mine and my partner's always say abnormal even though both are within normal range. Not just us then. That is odd.

[KASHMIRI1 in reply to Nagswoman]

I asked one of the doctors about it and he said if one test came back in a certain way then the rest just auto filled. Which is not good as I dont want to keep going to the doctors to have them run through the results. I know what the acceptable range for some of the results but not all of them.

[Ruins67]

I’m always told by reception that my blood test results will be available in about 2 to 3 days. If I don’t hear anything then I’m told not to worry. However, they are available online. I order my prescriptions online and I can now see my blood test results online. I had a cortisol test and it was abnormal as was my CPR still. I have now been referred to the endocrinologist. I have discovered though one of the problems is the results may often come in but the GP hasn’t had time to read them. If the receptionist can’t see them on my file, it’s not because the hospital hasn’t sent them, it’s often because the GP hasn’t read them. They won’t give out your test results until the GP has seen them. Once he has read them they automatically download the results to your computer files.

Are you able to order meds online? If so, is there an option for looking at your blood test results?

[Zappata in reply to Ruins67]

No I can't order online either even though I've requested it

[Perigrina]

Mine go on the NHS App as soon as they are done and I access them from there. Within 24 hours of test and before I see GP. Perhaps the problem is the hospital that does the tests not putting them in your health record? If so... needs a complaint. PS my GP also goes through the tests with me, putting them up in the computer screen for us both to see, and my GP (and others in the practice) puts all my consultations up same day too. It can be done.

[Zappata in reply to Perigrina]

Wow! I can only dream

[Perigrina in reply to Zappata]

Well... why not copy my response to your GP and ask why this is not possible for you? My health authority is North Yorkshire and the hospital that analyses the tests is in West Yorkshire if geography is relevant?. Happy to provide more details if it would help.

[byebyebicycle]

As far as I know the NHS system and this is based on 5 years in Cardiff and 4 years in Edinburgh with 2 different health practices. Your GP has direct access to any of your test results via the NHS web system and can print them out at anytime if he has to. GP's normally delegate this to the receptionists. You may need to fill in a privacy form to allow them to access and print your results but they really must comply. They are your test results.

[Cfmad298601]

have you checked if you hospital has an online patient portal, maybe check their website, or give the general office a call?

Ours has something called MYCHART……not sure if it’s just ours or if a general NHS thing?

We can see all our test results within 24hrs, check appointments, message the clinic direct etc….

[readingbooks in reply to Cfmad298601]

I have MYCHART here in Canada so not just UK NHS and it covers all that you refer to !

[TandemTime]

I used to phone and ask Dr's reception for them. they printed them out for me to collect. I wonder if you need to tick a box with them ( reception) to authorise your agreement to then being shared with the NHS app.. ? I would ask reception for advice, they get a lot of grief for a stressful job but seem really helpful if you get them on side.

[Ginntonic in reply to TandemTime]

It seems to depend on the surgery ours is similar to Tandemtime, and mine will print the test off if you ask them and pass it over the desk from the printer. Very easy. And I understand that the doctor should have been sent the results of hospital bloods

[Zappata in reply to TandemTime]

I will try again. Some receptionists are more helpful than others

[borednow]

Both my local pharmacies do blood tests - worth a try with yours?

[bluepuddy1]

Hello,

Though I have recently had blood tests at the hospital I did receive the results after 4-5 days on my NHS app. Patients Know Best was quicker. To register with the latter you have to let them have a code etc. that you obtain from your GP surgery. This can be emailed to you. You can also see copies of documents sent from hospital to your GP on these sites or apps. I have still not received my discharge letter from the hospital, not available on the day due to computer problems, but as I have seen it on line this is no longer important. Hospitals are very busy, but as stated here, they do have to contact the doctor. The fact that you have not received your blood test results etc. is definitely cause for complaint. You have a right to see your medical information and I have only recorded my experience to give you an idea of what usually happens.

[Zappata in reply to bluepuddy1]

Thank you - I appreciate it

[bluepuddy1 in reply to Zappata]

👍

[CocoaChanel]

Wow! I’m really starting to value my surgery and local hospital. My blood test results were on my NHS app within a few days and because my ESR and CRP levels were missing, I went to the surgery to ask how I could access them. The receptionist (lovely lady) looked them up for me then and there.

Complain, complain, complain 🤯

[Zappata in reply to CocoaChanel]

Ha ha must must must

[Zebedee44]

I get my results very quickly through the NHS portal which seems to be connected to the “patients know best” site. There doesn’t seem to be an APP for the latter but I get letters from East Sussex health trust with links to the site at the same time as my doctor and have often read them before he does. I find it very helpful to be kept in the loop of understanding my own health conditions.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zebedee44]

" I find it very helpful to be kept in the loop of understanding my own health conditions."

I think it is essential - especially with the state GP services are in and the time you have to wait to see one. Even normal range results can tell you something.

[Zebedee44 in reply to PMRpro]

I do find I overthink some of the “out of range” blood results and get my knickers in a twist about them. That said, I have waited almost three years for the Lipids Clinic to contact me about my hypercholesterolaemia and had stopped worrying about them.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zebedee44]

Were they worried? Pred ...

[Zebedee44 in reply to PMRpro]

Oh yes, the lady doctor was passionate about my high results, which are due to familial hypercholesterolaemia. I haven’t had much luck with statins and diet has no significant effect so she proposed bempoic acid but I have to have yet another blood test (uric acid) before starting it. She is talking about DNA screening so I can advise my two grown up kids. Clearly she has enthusiasm for her area of medical research.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zebedee44]

I'm on ezetimibe which brought it down some and now added bempedoic acid which brought it down lots further, Statins just made me ill. But mine is due to Actemra on top of highish, not familial though.

[Bramble2000]

Hi, I can access mine via “patient access” and also “patients know best”. I think you can also see them via the NHS app.

[Golf-1]

Although it is not always on the NHS App (probably because somebody has to put it there) during a recent appointment with my new Rheumy, he looked at his pc monitor and said "I can see you have regular blood tests" he pointed and I looked at the screen, and across the top of what looked like a calendar, the weeks I had blood tests were highlighted in red, these were GP and Hospital tests. He pointed at one with his curser and up came result

During a conversation with my GP Practice Pharmacist last Friday morning, he said he wanted to see the results of a blood test before increasing my MTX dose (as prescribed by my Rheumy ??) - I said I was having a test later that day at the hospital, and he said ok I will have a look at it next Tuesday.

This tells me, as it should be, that both GP and Hospitals have access to all of our blood tests therefore there should be no excuse for your GP saying they cannot access them

[2Yellowdaffodilsx]

Gosh yes Zappata I get them instantly at my Surgery either If I see a GP, or they print & I collect. 6yrs worth now! Please ask again, there shouldnt be a problem, be firm! Good Luck! They are your tests! Takes seconds, I do hope you get it. Take care, best wishes.

[Zappata in reply to 2Yellowdaffodilsx]

Thank you

[Nagswoman]

Try asking PALS at the hospital.

[Odosmum]

When I was only having bloods done at Outpatients, I used to ask them for a printout of the latest ones (which actually shows the last 3). Now that I have them done 3 monthly at the GPs surgery, I ask them for a printout (usually when I'm travelling).

I would say that the GP still doesn't have access to hospital bloods here, but the hospital does have access to GP bloods. Barmy system, if you ask me! I live in Scotland.

[NanJean]

I guess this is more of a question than an answer. Do they use health Portal in the UK? Nearly all our healthcare providers in the USA have portals where are results of tests are posted. And when I've had an outside lab draw my blood that my internist orders, the results are visible to me once my doctor has seen them. Fortunately, the Rheumatologist has the labs drawn by his office staff and therefore show up in the Portal.

[Zappata in reply to NanJean]

Hi not that I'm aware of