Hi there wondered if anyone can help me! My Gp would not allow me to have specific blood tests done ready for a private Endocrinologist appointment! Told me to have them done privately! This was relayed to me via a receptionist at my surgery! Is this a one off or is this normal practice? I did then go & have them done at an NHS hospital but no one has charged me yet!!
Hopefully you lovely people out there can help me?!
Quite usual i think , because it's a private endo , not an NHS referral ,they would naturally be unwilling/ unable to justify funding blood tests for it..... unless the timing it happened to coincide with testing as part of your NHS care.
4by2
I think it's down to the individual doctor.
I can understand his thinking - "you are paying to see a private endocrinologist so pay for your own tests and not expect the NHS to pay for them". If you think about the state of the NHS then it's understandable that the burden of the cost of your tests for a non-NHS appointment should not be on the NHS.
I did then go & have them done at an NHS hospital but no one has charged me yet!!
Did they know they were for a private appointment? Did they say they were going to charge you?
Do you mean blood draw only or arranging a certain type of test?
GPs decline requests for tests often. We know the information is necessary but they are taught otherwise. When refused it’s down to ourselves to arrange the test & draw.
How did you come to have test at hospital if GP had refused to complete? Where did the results go
I have heard or practices / hospitals charging a fee for a draw on private bloods.
i'm curious ,, what if anything did the hospital phlebotomist say about doing the bloods ? .. last time i tried to arrange thyroid bloods when the GP hadn't specifically asked for them at that point ,the reception booked me in with phlebotomist with no issues , but then phlebotomist said ". oh ,i'm not really supposed to do them because there's not a request from GP on the computer " .. she did do them bless her , and nobody moaned at me about it after wards, but i did have to kick up a bit of a fuss, and to be honest i think she only agreed to them so she didn't have to deal with me getting stroppy about it .
but i did have some grounds for asking for them though, as the GP has previously said . "try this dose for 6 months, and then we'll see " so i said i'd taken that as an instruction to do bloods after 6 months, and it would be a waste of every ones time to have to get a GP appointment just to get bloods authorised.
Did you manage to just walk into hospital phlebotomy service and ask for x,y, z and they did it , despite no blood test form or request from GP on computer system ?
The Endo told me to go to a particular NHS hospital with his blood request form. They did seem a bit confused & I had to sign a form to say it was a private request! My Endo has already had results back as I see him on Monday! Don’t know whether GP will get the results sent to him! Perhaps Endo will pop it onto his bill😳 I was wanting to see Consultant as I need more Liothyronine & he wouldn’t prescribe without seeing him! I manage to get that from France as I have a nephew there! Many thanks for your replies!
If you are being treated through the private system, you pay for everything. Not sure why this has come as a surprise. The NHS is not there to subsidise private patients, I'm afraid. All tests, scans, etc. ordered by a private consultant will be invoiced for. If you went to a hospital phlebotomy department without an NHS blood request form, and the test was done without question, then you were fortunate. My local hospital will not even accept a GP request, only one from a hospital consultant, NHS, of course.
I’m sorry but your reply sounded rather sanctimonious to me. I have been refused T3 on the NHS when, quite clearly, I need it. It has resulted in me having to pay for everything, blood tests, Private Endo and T3 prescriptions and not by choice but necessity. Do you consider that fair?
It may seem unfair that we have to pay for private treatment if we think we are being failed by the NHS, but the basic principle of the NHS not being there to subsidise the private sector remains the same. If those undergoing private treatment had all their testing done by the NHS to save on their bills, the cost and time involved would be considerable. I agree that NHS care leaves a lot to be desired in many areas, particularly in the case of chronic conditions, but this does not mean that we should be given subsidised private treatment. Also, there seems to be a common thread in this group that only thyroid patients receive less than perfect care for their condition, and that they need special treatment, which always seems objectionable to me.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’ve been badly let down by NHS Endos and my own GP and I can assure you that the NHS is definitely NOT subsidising my treatment. The situation I’m in now is entirely down to them.
As NHS rarely does full testing anymore thousands of members get full thyroid and vitamin testing done themselves before any consultation
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine or T3
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested
Do you have autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies?
Have you had both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Very important to test folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum
Vitamin D twice year when supplementing
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally before 9am last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
On T3 or NDT - day before test split daily dose into 3 smaller doses, spread through the day at approx 8 hour intervals, taking last 1/3rd of daily dose 8-12 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options and money off codes
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks is currently 20% off
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3
£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via
It seems to be an individual choice, my original GPs were happy to do blood tests prior to my first appointments with any private endocrinologists they were referring me to. After that they were happy to do tests 6 monthly if I asked. They refused to treat me as my blood levels had been 'normal' when diagnosed, but at least they understood what was going on. Those two GPs retired and the new ones have said they will only arrange a test if the endocrinologist asks them to. As the endocrinologist is both private and NHS he arranges NHS blood tests when he thinks it necessary, the rest of the time I get them done online if I think it necessary.
I have private only consultations and my NHS GP agrees to all my blood tests on the NHS. I get about 10 tests done every 3 months without fail through the NHS for my private only Endocrinologist. There has never been any questions about it. I don’t consult with my private only Endocrinologist every 3 months. It’s good for me to know those results to keep myself informed. I feel your GP is very mean indeed as most tests are only pennies on the NHS whereas privately can get very expensive indeed ongoing. I’d speak to the practice manager and put a firm but pleasant request through again in an email.
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