Lyme Valley Practice - About medical tests and how to get your results

Test Results

test_results8 Test results are usually available from 11am, either in person or by telephone. Please do not contact the surgery before this time with regards to test results as the staff are busy dealing with urgent appointments for that day.

Our reception staff will advise you of your need to be seen again or whether no further follow up is necessary. It is then the responsibility of the patient to make the appropriate follow up appointment if advised.

The receptionist are administration staff and as such are not qualified to comment on results as they are not clinically trained.

Please note that we do have a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection. In this respect 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 any information. This prior permission is in the form of A Third Party Consent. Please ask one of the receptionists if you feel this applies to you or a family member also registered at this practice.

Blood Tests

blood_tests_4 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 child's hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken.

We do not routinely take blood samples at the surgery. Our patients are asked to attend a community clinic at their convenience. All patients have to take a sample request card with them which will be supplied by one of our clinicians. This is a decision from our Clinical Commissioning Group who do not authorise routine blood tests at local surgeries.

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

X-Ray

doctor examining an x-ray 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 broken bones. They can also often identify problems with soft tissue, such as pneumonia or breast cancer.

If you have a 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.

X-rays are not undertaken within the surgery, these are only undertaken at specialist units. All requests need to be approved by a clinician.

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

Test Results

Blood Tests

X-Ray

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