Problems with blood tests and other pathology results

Posted by: lindsaygollin - Posted on:

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
  4. There may be staggered delays within a set of tests, meaning reports may not be representative. For example, a result may be marked as ‘normal’, and this communicated to the patient, but further test elements are yet to arrive (and may be ‘abnormal’).

This has been a problem across Leeds with every GP practice having to do check results in more detail. At Oakwood Lane Medical Practice we are facing extra workload caused by this issue. Please be assured that 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 normal, 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 4 weeks ago and there are no results showing on the NHS App, please let us know via PATCHS on the homepage of our website (choose the ‘admin query’ option). If you are not able to access the NHS App, then please do give us a call to check. We are running a Digital Drop-in on Monday 3rd February in The Roost from 14:00-15:00 for anyone who would like some support with the NHS App or PATCHS.

If you had a blood test taken here at the practice more than 4 weeks ago, and you cannot see all the results from it on the NHS App please let us know.

 West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Leeds Local Medical Committee (which represents GPs) and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust are working together to resolve the issues. We will continue to post updates as we get them.

Should you wish to convey your feelings to Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, you can contact the patient Advice liaison Service here

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support.