Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hospitals and GPs in England are being forced to ration blood tests as the NHS struggles to cope with a severe shortage of the plastic sample bottles that are filled and then sent to a laboratory for analysis.
Some GP surgeries have stopped giving patients routine blood tests to assess the health of those with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. In some places, GP practices have had to ring patients to tell them not to come in for pre-booked blood tests as a result of the problem.
Hospitals are also telling GPs in their area to cut back on the number of tests they do by more than 50% to try to conserve supplies, stocks of which are running dangerously low in many places.
The medical director of an acute hospital trust in Hampshire told colleagues in an email that although it had cut blood tests by 16%, a “further and dramatic” contraction “across the board” is still needed because “the shortage in supply is a 60% reduction” on usual stocks.
www.theguardian.com
Some GP surgeries have stopped giving patients routine blood tests to assess the health of those with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. In some places, GP practices have had to ring patients to tell them not to come in for pre-booked blood tests as a result of the problem.
Hospitals are also telling GPs in their area to cut back on the number of tests they do by more than 50% to try to conserve supplies, stocks of which are running dangerously low in many places.
The medical director of an acute hospital trust in Hampshire told colleagues in an email that although it had cut blood tests by 16%, a “further and dramatic” contraction “across the board” is still needed because “the shortage in supply is a 60% reduction” on usual stocks.
GPs and hospitals to limit blood tests in England due to bottle shortage
NHS says lack of plastic bottles for samples will worsen and last ‘for a significant period’
www.theguardian.com
