SHORTAGE OF BLOOD SPECIMEN BOTTLES.

As you may have read there is a National shortage of blood specimen bottles in the UK. This has led to a National alert advising primary and community care to take the IMMEDIATE ACTION as follows:

All primary care and community testing must be halted until 17 September 2021, except for clinically urgent testing. 

Examples of clinically urgent testing include:

• Blood tests that are required to facililitate a two week wait (urgent suspected cancer) referral. 

• Bloods that are extremely overdue and/or essential for safe prescribing of medication or monitoring of condition. 

• Bloods that if taken could avoid a hospital admission or prevent an onward referral. 

• Those with suspected sepsis or conditions with a risk of death or disability. 

We are very sorry, but as a result we will NOT be able to offer any routine health check blood tests until this is approved again later in the year when the supply issue is resolved. 

For those of our patients on high risk medications requiring routine interval blood test monitoring we offer reassurance that this will continue as normal.