Home blood tests.

[Chrys]

Blue Horizon offer vacutainer or microtainer for this. Has anyone recommendations for either of these in terms of ease of use for the ignorant?

TIA

[Huzat]

Microtainer (at home finger prick samples) or Vacutainer (a phlebotomist with a needle) sample collection. The first you do yourself and the second you arrange and pay a phlebotomist to do.

[Chrys in reply to Huzat]

Ah, got it, thanks.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

For what it's worth, and we're all different, given the choice I personally would go for the phlebotomist every time. Simply because when I did the finger prick test at home my blood clotted so quickly in the little funnel it couldn't flow down into the collection tube. I sent off as much as I could (reasonably full but not quite the right amount) and contacted BH to tell them what had happened. They said they would try to do the test but if there was insufficient blood they would send me another kit to get blood drawn. My only problem is I can't ask my surgery to draw blood and I have a 120 mile round trip to a Spire hospital (and need to find someone to drive me there) if I want it done there

[hunny59 in reply to SeasideSusie]

There are some NHS hospitals which have a ticketing system for phlebotomy which will allow you to turn up, take a ticket and get blood drawn. My sister has just had her blood taken by a hospital in West London for her Blue Horizon tests - they didn't ask any questions, just took the paperwork, drew the blood and gave the filled tube to her to post off. I know this won't be possible at all hospitals, but it may be worth checking their website or calling to find out if you have one closer than the Spire Hospital?

[Chrys in reply to hunny59]

Thanks, I'll try our local one.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to hunny59]

Thank you for that hunny59. Unfortunately the NHS hospitals are the same distance, I live in fairly rural north Wales and the two hospitals used by my health authority are both approx 60 miles away, the Spire is almost next door to one of them.

[hunny59 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Bugger I had the same problem as you - blood was clotting before it got beyond the lip of the funnel, no matter what I did with my fingers. Typically, I stabbed myself under the fingernail with a shard of glass that I'd thought was a piece of paper a few days later while tidying up - that bled like I had no clotting factors in my blood at all - typical!

[Chrys]

Thanks, our surgery won't do it either. Seems a missed opportunity to boost NHS funds to me.

[Coastwalker]

Hubby opted for the finger prick test, we got sent the wrong test, got all set up to do it and Hubby nearly fainted at the length of the needle, the lab had sent through the wrong kit, so sent another through the post, the proper finger prick test kit this time, we were all fingers and thumbs at the first attempt and used all three lances up as the blood clotted quickly, one test came out OK, but the other results were not done

listed as 'haemolysed sample,' they sent through yet another test kit and Hubby performed spot on using only two lances on two fingers this time.

So well worth doing, we'll effeminately use the service again.

[Chrys]

Thanks, I got my finger prick kit from BH, unfortunately, there was an item included not on the instruction sheet, and there was an item on the sheet that was missing. Fortunately I was able to get the blood drawn in parallel with a hospital blood test for another issue, and was not charged for the extra blood draw.