The laboratory at Leeds Teaching Hospitals trust (LTHT), which processes & reports on all the bloods tests taken across Leeds, had a system upgrade in early December 2024.

Due to problems with this upgrade:

1. Some blood test results have been delayed in being sent back to the practice
2. Some blood test results were sent to us in an incorrect format: so will take us longer to review back in the practice
3. Some blood samples have been lost or have been discarded due to delays in processing which means they will have to be repeated

This has been a problem across Leeds with every GP practice having to do a lot of extra work, checking and so on. At St Martins we are facing a significant extra workload caused by this issue which is entirely outside our control. Please be assured that we are working through the extra work steadily and we will be in touch with patients as and when necessary.

Our preferred way for patients to know that their test results are back / and are noral, is by checking on the NHS App. You can see all your test results and your recent medical notes in the NHS App. It is downloadable from app stores. If you had a blood test taken here at the practice more than 3w ago and there are no results showing on the NHS App, please fill in an online form and let us know. If you are not able to access the NHS App, then please do give us a call to check.

If you had a blood test taken here at the practice more than 3 weeks ago, and you cannot see all the results from it on the NHS App

West Yorkshire ICB, Leeds Local Medical Committee (which represents GPs) and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust are working together to resolve the issues. However, Leeds General Practice feels this system upgrade has been poorly handled, resulting in a lot of extra work for practices at our busiest time of year.

Should you wish to convey your feelings to LTHT, you can contact the patient Advice liaison Service here

Thank you for your ongoing support

Dr Beth Oxley, GP Partner

A blood test is when a sample of blood is taken for testing in a laboratory. Blood tests have a wide range of uses and are one of the most common types of medical test. For example, a blood test can be used to:

• assess your general state of health
• confirm the presence of a bacterial or viral infection
• see how well certain organs, such as the liver and kidneys, are functioning

A blood test usually involves the phlebotomist taking a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm and the usual place for a sample is the inside of the elbow or wrist, where the veins are relatively close to the surface. Blood samples from children are most commonly taken from the back of the hand. The childs hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken.

You can find out more about blood tests, their purpose and the way they are performed on the NHS Choices website.

After you have had a test we will contact you if the results indicate that we need to speak with you. We may contact you by text (if you have consented to this), by phone or by letter and we will tell you if this is a routine matter OR if it should be done on the same day. If the results do not indicate that we need to speak with you then we will not contact you.

The best way to access your test resuts is via the NHS App, available from the App Store, which gives you access to your GP held medical records. Please note that where resuts say "no further action" that this is a fixed tag added by our cinical system: it does not mean that we feel the patietn does not require any more support.

If your results are normal, but you continue to have symptoms, then you may wish to make a further routine GP appointment to consider the next steps. 

You will be told how long you should expect to wait for the results at the time of your test so please bear this in mind before calling. 

Please note we will only give out results to the person they relate to unless that person has given prior permission for their release or if they are not capable of understanding them. This is due to our policy regarding confidentiality and data protection. 

If you have online access to your medical records, then you can see all your test results online. Please be mindful that you may see them before the GP or ACP has seen them and had a chance to contact you.

If you see a hospital consultant, and they want you to have a blood test or other test - then it is their responsibility to communicate the results to you.

An X-ray is a widely used diagnostic test to examine the inside of the body. X-rays are a very effective way of detecting problems with bones, such as fractures. They can also often identify problems with soft tissue, such as pneumonia or breast cancer.

If you have an X-ray, you will be asked to lie on a table or stand against a surface so that the part of your body being X-rayed is between the X-ray tube and the photographic plate.

An X-ray is usually carried out by a radiographer, a healthcare professional who specialises in using imaging technology, such as X-rays and ultrasound scanners.

You can find out more about x-ray tests, how they are performed, their function and the risks by visiting the NHS Choices website.