There will be a temporary change to routine and non-urgent blood tests at a small number of GP practices from 21 March – 1 June.
If you are a patient at The Forest Practice, The Fairfields Practice or Wellspring Surgery and you are required to have a routine blood test, you will be sent to either Nottingham City Hospital or the Queen’s Medical Centre. You can find out more about these services by visiting: https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/phlebotomy/
If you are housebound, you will still be able to have blood tests at home but there may be a slightly longer wait for this than usual.
This temporary change to the service is likely to be in place for approximately two months. We will keep all our patients regularly updated as soon as the service can be restored closer to the practices.
We fully understand the frustration this is likely to cause and apologise for the inconvenience. If you have any questions about getting your blood test that are not answered below please contact your practice directly.
Why can’t the practices continue to provide routine blood tests?
These practices are different to other practices in the city as they do not provide this service themselves and for many years have depended upon other health organisations to deliver this for them. Due to staffing levels across the NHS other organisations aren’t able to do this for a short period. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, who arrange and pay for local health services have tried incredibly hard to help these practices to find a solution and from June we expect to have a more local solution in place.
How do I get to the hospital clinics?
There are two clinics offering blood tests, one at each hospital campus. The address for each hospital is:
- Queens Medical Centre Phlebotomy Department, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH (For routine blood tests for people aged 12 years and older)
- City Hospital, Hucknall Road Nottingham NG5 1PB (For routine blood tests for people aged 16 years and older)
City Hospital and QMC campuses are open Monday to Thursday 7am–5pm and Friday 7am–1.30pm and request patients arrive at least 30 minutes prior to closure. Busiest times are Mondays and between 8am–11am daily.
You can find out more about these services by visiting: https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/phlebotomy/
What if I urgently need blood tests, am I included in this change?
Urgent same day blood tests will not be affected by this temporary service change, they will continue to be taken at the practice.
What is a routine blood test?
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
- check if you have an infection
- see how well certain organs, such as the liver and kidneys, are working
- screen for certain genetic conditions
- monitoring of long-term medication use such as warfarin
Do I need to contact the GP about my blood test or will you contact me?
If you are recommended to have a blood test, you will be sent to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust at either Nottingham City Hospital or the Queen’s Medical Centre. The GP will share the details with you in advance.
You will need to take with you the blood form provided by your GP practice, either a paper copy or in digital form downloaded onto your phone so that the hospital phlebotomy department knows which blood tests are needed.
What happens if you are classed as housebound?
If you are housebound you will still be able to have blood tests at home but there may be a slightly longer wait for this than usual.
Is there any financial support available for those who need to travel for a blood test?
If you’re referred to hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests by a doctor, dentist or another primary care health professional, you may be able to claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS). You can find out more here.
What if I have a question that is not answered here?
If you have any questions or concerns about your routine blood test, please contact your GP practice.
You can contact the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s patient experience team if you have any queries about the local health services available to you. The patient experience team can be contacted by phone from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) or by email.
- Telephone: 0115 8839570
- Email: nnccg.patientexperience@nhs.net
