Tests & Results

When the doctor orders laboratory tests, you will be asked to provide samples, and/or to make an appointment. We hold phlebotomy (the sampling of blood) clinics on Monday to Friday between 8:30 – 12:00, by appointment only.

If the surgery’s phlebotomy clinics are fully booked, we can book blood test appointments at the Extended Access clinics, the nearest is held at Nuffield Road Medical Centre. Blood tests can be done on a Wednesday evening 18:00- 20:30, Friday evening 18:00- 20:30 and Saturday mornings 08:00- 13:00

Please note drug monitoring bloods should be carried out at East Barnwell Health Centre.

For other samples, such as urine, stool/faeces and sputum tests, containers can be obtained from reception. Please hand laboratory specimens into reception before 2:00pm on weekdays, making sure you have clearly labelled the specimen with your name, date of birth and the day the sample was taken. These will then be sent to the laboratory for testing.

Allow enough sufficient time for the results to come back and be processed (usually one week) before telephoning.  We can only give results to the patient, carer (with patients consent), and parent of minors.

Please understand that our receptionists are not medically qualified and so cannot answer any questions about your results.  She/he can only pass on to you the message recorded on your results by the doctor.  If the doctor needs to see or speak to you urgently regarding the test results, you will be contacted by the surgery.  In all other cases, it is the patient’s responsibility to contact the surgery to obtain the laboratory test results.

When enquiring about a result please telephone after 10:00am, when the switchboard is quieter and results will have been received and reported on by the doctor.  Sometimes the receptionist will ask you to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss the results.

Where do I go for clinical or disease information?

Best Treatments

Information is researched from the British Medical Journal and displayed in an easy to understand format.

Net doctor

Attempts to break the language barrier between doctors and patients regarding disease and illnesses.

QRisk

QRISK is a new calculator which works out your risk of getting heart disease. It has been developed by doctors and academics working in the UK National Health Service

Information on Healthier Living

BBC – Healthy Living

Simple, accurate advice from the BBC. Helps you to establish the dos & donts of living healthily.

Male Health

Fast, free independent information from the Men”s Health Forum.

Women’s Health Concern

Women”s Health Concern is a charitable organisation which aims to help educate and support women with their healthcare by providing unbiased, accurate information.

NHS Sites

NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution was published on 21 January 2009. It was one of a number of recommendations in Lord Darzi’s report ‘High Quality Care for All’ which was published on the 60th anniversary of the NHS and set out a ten-year plan to provide the highest quality of care and service for patients in England

NHS Choices

Aiming to personalise healthcare and provide information that will ‘allow patients to make meaningful choices about when and where to receive their treatment.’

Charity Websites

Cancerhelp

Free information service provided by Cancer Research UK about cancer and cancer care for people with cancer and their families. Information is formatted in such a way that makes understanding the website an easy process

Cancer Backup

Europe’s leading cancer information charity, with over 4,500 pages of up-to-date cancer information, practical advice and support for cancer patients, their families and carers.

Diabetes UK

largest charity in the UK devoted to the care and treatment of people with diabetes in order to improve the quality of life for people with the condition

Asthma UK

This website has been revamped to meet the needs of the thousands of people with asthma who visit the site each day, either to find important information about asthma and how to control it

Alzheimer’s Society

Comprehensive information for people with all forms of dementia.

Tips on evaluating the reliability of online medical information

1. Use sites from reputable organisations you have heard of.
2. Double check the information by looking for other sources.
3. Check there are contact details for any organisation or people responsible for the information not just an email address.
4. Look at the advertising – does it seem to unduly influence the site content?
5. All articles should quote references that you can look up.
6. Watch out for claims about the superiority of any particular treatment over another
7. Is this information supplied with a date to make sure it has not been superseded by other research.
8. Check the sites confidentiality policy.
9. Beware of sites claiming to be the definitive source.
10. Beware of sites that criticise others.