doc won't give blood test results

gercoral

does anyone know if the local hospital will give you your blood results?
got mine done in october with my doctor..she still hasn't given me the results. have rang 3 times and no joy. the receptionist has said she'll log my call and put note on my file.

i'm sick to the teeth of waiting. aren't the bloods tested in hospital? could i ring them for results?

irishgirl19

I know it must be incredibly frustrating but until you get an answer, I would take comfort in the fact that the doc would be pretty quick to make contact if there was something to be concerned about. This is usually the case.
If you don't get any joy next week I would put your request in writing to the surgery

gercoral

irishgirl19 wrote: »

I know it must be incredibly frustrating but until you get an answer, I would take comfort in the fact that the doc would be pretty quick to make contact if there was something to be concerned about. This is usually the case.
If you don't get any joy next week I would put your request in writing to the surgery

my mam says the same but she hasn't actually physically looked at them yet a locum doctor took them, told me they'd be ready in a week. so she might not know if there is anything wrong
terribly frustrating!!

njs030

gercoral wrote: »

my mam says the same but she hasn't actually physically looked at them yet a locum doctor took them, told me they'd be ready in a week. so she might not know if there is anything wrong
terribly frustrating!!

How do you know she hasn't looked at them? I doubt blood test results have sat there unopened for 4 months unless your gp doesn't care about negligence. Was it for anything major?

Manitoban

Could it be that the results won't be given out over the phone? That is the case in my gp, which is a right pain making an appointment to go in just for blood results.

gercoral

the receptionist has put 3 notices on my file. the doctor hasn't opened them. my mother was down collecting a prescription during the week, doc happened to come out of the toilet, my mother mentioned it to her, saying they had been done 3 months ago, and she said said "oh, thats a while ago" and walked off.

Gatling

My not make an appointment to see your gp and ask him directly

Wesser

It's probably not that they won't give you the results

Probably more like they haven't gotten
round to it due to workload.

Ursus Horribilis

Are you in a position to turn up at the surgery. It's very hard for a receptionist/doctor to fob you off if you're standing there on the premises. Tell them you can wait until the doctor has a couple of minutes.

gercoral

i could make an appointment but i suppose in a way I'm being a bit of a tightarse in that i know she'll ask me for 50euro to give me the results which i think is unfair. but i may have to do that

Ursus Horribilis

If you paid to have the bloods done, why should you have to pay for the results? If you're in a position to drop into the surgery, do. If you're standing there at the reception desk, they're going to have to do something more tangible for you. I would refuse to pay the €50 if they have the cheek to ask.

JustAThought

Put it in writing : say the timeline & that you're concerned & ask directly : are the results back, if so what are the results & if not why not and ask for a response by a certain date. Register the letter.
Are you on a medical card? If after this you get no reply make a complaint to the HSE medical card doctors section.

But - it might be that there are multiple tests & they have gone to the UK for processing - as many do. They msy be waiting for them all to come back to notify you or to get a full picture.

Addle

My gp doesn't waste their time discussing clear test results.

No news is good news OP.

Sligo1

Addle wrote: »

My gp doesn't waste their time discussing clear test results.

No news is good news OP.

The results don't need to to be discussed but the patient needs to know if they're clear or not. And it's not a waste of time at all of it puts the patients mind at rest. Every Gp has the responsibility of informing their patients of this fact.

Op as another poster said, make an appointment to see your GP. And ask for the results at the appointment. If they try to charge you for this appointment I would outright refuse and tell them you have been trying to chase this up for months and you feel it is negligence on their behalf for not informing you whether the results were clear or if there was something that needed to reported. There's not a chance they will be able to Persue you for €50. Besides, this is follow up. Sound like you need to change Gps as this one doesn't seem very patient orientated tbh.

Just remember, there's always the fact they lost the samples or the blood haemolysed so couldn't be tested! Mistakes always happen with blood sampling! So they may not have the results which could be why they are fobbing you off! But they need to inform you of this so you can get another test.

mada82

You paid for a service so I wouldn't accept being fobbed off. Send a letter demanding a refund and then change surgeries if possible.

mada82

Addle wrote: »

My gp doesn't waste their time discussing clear test results.

No news is good news OP.

If he charges you for them then the least he can do is "waste his time".

Rubberchikken

i find it extradionary that you're being fobbed off. doesn't sound professional to me.
i had bloods taken some time ago by practice nurse and was told if i wanted the results to ring up in a week and i could have them by speaking to said nurse. reading your op just reminded me that i didn't ring oops.

i wouldn't see why they'd charge for a visit to discuss results but ringing and asking might get an answer to that.
practices really seem to differ.

take care

amdublin

I guarantee you there is no possible way that a blood result is sitting unopened and unread in a doctor's surgery.
Particularly after 3 reminder phone calls.

Chances are they have been read, they are fine and you are not a priority to call back.

But! No one can tell you that for sure. You will need to get the results of these tests! Why don't you just call into the surgery and ask for them to pass you a copy/tell you the results? Don't pay for an appointment though!!!

Was there an underlying reason you got the bloods done?

CaraMay

Yeah just go and ask them to print the results....

Katgurl

I cannot believe this OP and I cannot believe the replies. I would go nuts in your shoes OP. Three months?! I would go into that surgery and make a very loud scene. You've paid and you need your mind put at ease that everything is ok. I would be straight into that waiting room and very vocally stating what happened and how you'll be naming and shaming everywhere. You want your results and you will be getting another gp.

The CHEEK of them.

amdublin

Katgurl wrote: »

I cannot believe this OP and I cannot believe the replies. I would go nuts in your shoes OP. Three months?! I would go into that surgery and make a very loud scene. You've paid and you need your mind put at ease that everything is ok. I would be straight into that waiting room and very vocally stating what happened and how you'll be naming and shaming everywhere. You want your results and you will be getting another gp.

The CHEEK of them.

Why would you want to go into your local gp and make a show of yourself?

Just go in and explain you'd like your results - and that you would have thought you would have got them by now, in particular seeing as it is three months ago they were taken and as you have put three reminder calls in already.

strandroad

My GP leaves a voicemail and then you're marked as informed on the system. So if this happened but they dialled a wrong number or you missed the voicemail it might be that you're chasing them about the same results and they are fobbing you off as they don't understand what else do you want from them about the all clear.

gercoral

i was tempted to go to another doctor but apparently this one is "very good" and "very thorough"..though I beg to differ.
truth is, i've never had a doctor, well not since i was about 4 because i've been in pretty good health so I haven't needed one. the only reason I'm with this doc is because i needed her to fill out a form for me, and because of that, she had no personal details so they wanted to upload my details to their system.

so i explained a few issues i'd been having over the last year or 2, symptoms wise, and lets say the mildest she was testing for was to see if i was celiac. there are other issues that concern me that I don't want to go in to.

I understand she may be busy but as I was saying to my family, perhaps she should dedicate an hour at the end of her day for tasks like this.

So I think the best I can do is just go in unannounced, wait at reception and ask to see her. I shouldn't have to pay another 50euro If she won't see me, then I'm just going to change doctors, though I'm none the wiser about my bloods. According to the receptionist, the doc hasn't seen them yet. I'll ring again and ask either about printing the results or I'll just turn up unannounced.

Thanks for the help and info!

bee06

If you do go to another GP (and I think you definitely should) then tell your new GP about this blood test and that you haven't got the results. They can request your medical records from the old GP with your permission which should include the blood test results.

amdublin

I am sure there will be a very logical reason when you go in


Best of luck with it and your health in the future!

amdublin

bee06 wrote: »

If you do go to another GP (and I think you definitely should) then tell your new GP about this blood test and that you haven't got the results. They can request your medical records from the old GP with your permission which should include the blood test results.

Or you could get a copy of the results and bring them your new GP to explain them to you.

bee06

amdublin wrote: »

Or you could get a copy of the results and bring them your new GP to explain them to you.

Of course they could but if he/she doesn't want to deal with the old GP and just move on I was explaining that it didn't mean they still couldn't get the results in a different way.

Ursus Horribilis

There really shouldn't be such a big deal about getting blood results. I wonder did they lose them? Any time I've had them done, getting the results has been a phone call that lasted less than 5 minutes. That including my ringing the surgery, telling the receptionist I was looking for results, them digging out my file and putting me through to the doctor. I've been in with the doctor on occasions when these calls have come in and she deals with them on the spot.

You obviously feel like you're on the back foot here and you shouldn't be. You paid the doctor for the consultation and the tests. Getting the results is the final part of the deal and isn't something you should be paying for. Reading a printout from a lab isn't rocket science.

If you go into the surgery, don't be apologetic at all. It's them who've fecked up and it's your right to be told the results of your blood test. I know from experience that showing up in some of these places can get results. You don't need to be rude or scream the place down or anything like that. Polite but firm is the route to go here. All you need to do is be there, hanging around like a bad smell at the reception desk. Just call in and say you've been waiting on the results of your bloods for 3 months. If they say the doctor's busy, then say you can wait. Or ask when's a better time to call back. And yeah, I'd definitely be changing doctors after this.

deisemum

That's extremely unprofessional carry on by the surgery and doesn't inspire confidence in how you'd be treated if you had something serious wrong with you.

I have bloods done a couple of times a year and the longest I've had to wait is about a week but in recent times my gp has had the results the following day, I think the lab emailed the results to her. I've had the gp and nurse phone me up with the results and other times I've phoned and been put through to the gp or nurse and it only took 2 or 3 mins. if that. If I'm passing by or if I've been in to the gp shortly after having the bloods done I ask the receptionist for a printout of the results and she's done it there and then. It's not rocket science to read them.

I'm another who thinks you should change doctors.

intheclouds

This GP isn't in D16 by any chance?

I left a practice there because the doctors would do this in order to force you to pay for another appointment. The receptionists were in on it, never allowing you to speak to a doctor, messages never passed on (if you complained to the doc they blamed the receptionist, if you complained to the receptionist they blamed the doc). They'd also never refer you on, preferring to get multiple paid visits out of you.

Anyway, I couldn't bear the frustration and stress it would cause trying to get information for months on end so I left. Best decision I ever made tbh, the place I'm with now is patient oriented and there's none of this nonsense.

LegacyUser

If you don't have a history and a rapport with the doctor, then I wouldn't be too worried about upsetting them. Write them a letter, get proof of postage, and tell them if you haven't received a call from them in 3 days time (allowing for post to be delivered!) that you will be sending a complaint to the medical council.

Blood results should take no longer than a week to be sent to the surgery. They've either lost them or aren't bothered. Either way, you've a right to complain.

Wesser

<SNIP> Requesting updates is agains forum charter. Please take the time to read before posting again

dudara

gercoral

after nearly 5 months to the date, finally got results.
everything OK but she wants to take one more blood test...
half tempted to tell her to feck off :P

amdublin

gercoral wrote: »

...everything OK but she wants to take one more blood test...
half tempted to tell her to feck off :P

Oh god don't do that. Why would you mess with your health. If your doc says you need an additional test do the other test. But make sure you get the result straightaway - bloods generally take a week.

When you last posted you were considering changing gp because of the delay in getting the results. Are you still considering this?

P.s. good to hear everything was OK with your results

Ursus Horribilis

Did the doctor give any sort of explanation or apologise for why you didn't get your results for 5 months? If it was me, I'd just change GPs.

Sligo1

gercoral wrote: »

after nearly 5 months to the date, finally got results.
everything OK but she wants to take one more blood test...
half tempted to tell her to feck off :P

Ask her what is the rationale/reason you need another blood test. Then get the bloods done with a different GP.

daithi1970

.for future reference, no hospital lab will give you blood test results directly-you will always be directed to contact your gp. Having said that,it is outrageous that a gp would try to charge you for getting any lab results-i dont know whether it is common knowledge or not, but gps get all public lab services for free-this includes both the tubes/bottles/forms, transportation to the lab and lab testing,(1971 Health Act), so dont let yourself be browbeaten into paying for lab results for which you have already paid.

deisemum

daithi1970 wrote: »

.for future reference, no hospital lab will give you blood test results directly-you will always be directed to contact your gp. Having said that,it is outrageous that a gp would try to charge you for getting any lab results-i dont know whether it is common knowledge or not, but gps get all public lab services for free-this includes both the tubes/bottles/forms, transportation to the lab and lab testing,(1971 Health Act), so dont let yourself be browbeaten into paying for lab results for which you have already paid.

Interesting, my gp charges an extra €10 for blood tests.

Ursus Horribilis

Seriously? I've never been charged extra and I've had them done in a few practices.

amdublin

I got some recently. I was charged 50 for the consultation 30 for the bloods. Was the 30 a charge for actually drawing the blood???

intheclouds

amdublin wrote: »

I got some recently. I was charged 50 for the consultation 30 for the bloods. Was the 30 a charge for actually drawing the blood???

GP prices vary so widely.

I went recently and I had a consultation that included me getting some regular prescription meds, a chat about changing birth control and some direction on who to call for what I wanted and a form to get bloods done. The whole thing cost 40 euro. Im getting the bloods done in the practice on Tuesday morning, there will be no extra charge for that. I could have gone to Tallaght hospital for the bloods but they didnt have a free appointment til the end of May on their website. There would have been no charge for the bloods there.

So - total cost to me - 40 euro.

JustAThought

Hmm - interesting - my GP gives the option - get bloods done in walk in clinic in hospital - free - or there with the GP there & then & its e20. The hospital may have 100 people in front of you - or it may take 3 minutes & the drive. hospital never gives results - they system is sewn up - you have to get the results from the GP. My current GP will ring ( free) if its terribly urgent, or ask you to come in (&pay but a reduced fee) if its just generally bad news! If its good news he will call too - free- or not bother mentioning it until you happen to pass through with something else wrong months or years later. Seems a system where lots of room for error can be made - the bedrock of HSE really.
Regarding further tests I found out that you have to specify the /exactly which tests - if something was eliminated or not tested for, it may later be added because the obvious did not appear in the blood results. Then they would need more of your delicious blood to test further for more/other aliments/proofs! Hope that helps!