Blood tests at the surgery

Message from Dr Young for St Mary’s Surgery patients:

“You may have read or heard on the news that NHS England is temporarily stopping all non-urgent blood tests, and this includes bloods taken at GP surgeries as well as hospitals.

The reason for this is that there is a major shortage in the supply of the vials used for blood tests.

Therefore, at the present time, we will ONLY be taking clinically urgent bloods for testing.

We realise this might be difficult for some of our patients. If you are expecting to be called back for a routine blood test, please do not worry, your blood tests will be completed in due course. You will not be forgotten.

The surgery has been advised that NHS England is working flat out with suppliers and other stakeholders to restore normal supply and build stock levels again. We have also been advised that the issue is expected to be resolved by mid-September but it might take a while longer after that to work through to local GP practices.

This pause in routine blood tests doesn’t impact the level of care provided to you by the doctors and clinical team here at St Mary’s. If you do have any concerns or queries about your blood test, please do contact us.”