"Withdrawal of Phlebotomy Services"

My local practice told me they would no longer do my blood tests so instead of going less than a mile for a 30 second test I now have to go 78 miles... this has left me feeling angry, anxious and ill.

Ruby Country Medical Group, Holsworthy, Devon has decided that patients, such as myself, who need regular and life long pre-treatment blood tests will now not get them at their local surgeries. They announced this on, of all places, a Facebook page that I didn't even know existed and certainly didn't know it was somewhere I should go to find out important services I rely on are being cut. They billed the post as changes to phlebotomy services and you had to read on to find out it should have read "withdrawal" of phlebotomy services. It was also billed as an "inconvenience" and in later exchanges with the Practice Manager I was told I needed to be more understanding because if I got my blood tests, they would not be able to pay staff wages or keep the lights on; a comment which really doesn't equate with the fact that they apparently are hiring more staff.

Let me tell you about this "inconvenience".......

I have Multiple Sclerosis and Haemochromatosis.

The MS is managed by my Consultant at RD&E and I need regular blood tests to ensure that my medication is not adversely affecting organs in my body. MS is a degenerative disease affecting my mobility, energy levels and apart from having such a "Russian Roulette" of a disease being stressful enough, changes in the brain cause somatic anxiety. MS will almost definitely mean that one day (who knows when) I will not be able to drive, I may be a wheelchair user, I may loose my sight or suffer a whole host of other symptoms.

I also go to RD&E for 6-8 weekly (sometimes less frequent) for venesections. At what point I have these venesections is determined by pre-treatment blood tests which need to be no more than 5 days before treatment. If they take blood when it is not necessary, I will become anaemic, if it is not done and my Ferratin levels increase then damage can be caused to major organs. There is no Consultant for this disorder at RD&E, I am not under the care of a Consultant and I was simply sent there by my GP to have a nurse take blood and throw it in the bin. I was sent to Okehampton for a while but they closed that centre down. I have recently been made aware that they do offer this service in Holsworthy but I was never given that option.

The practice seems to have decided that because I go to a hospital for venesections, even though I have no Consultant and there is no other oversight other than by the Ruby Medical Group practice and whichever nurse sticks the needle in, it is now reasonable, given both my conditions, to expect me to make a 78 mile round trip to Exeter for a 30 second blood test and do the same again 5 days later for my treatment. Also, it could be that I make the 1st trip for a blood test, only to find I don't need treatment that week and I may have to make a 2nd or 3rd trip before they determine I can make the 78 mile round trip on a 4th occasion for treatment.

I have always had my pre-treatment tests at Hatherleigh Surgery which is less than 1 mile from home; making that trip on 1, 2 or 3 occasions to determine if I am "ripe" for venesection has never been a problem for me but now offering me this service is described as secondary care and not their remit, discretionary; it seems they no longer want to do it so I must go the 78 miles every time..... forever. When I no longer drive it is a 2-3 hour journey combining walking and 3 buses one way or, of course, I could pay the extortionate amount for a taxi.

I was forced to go to the Holsworthy "Mega-surgery" for my last test as getting appointments at Hatherleigh for anything is becoming more and more difficult and even that journey / appointment took an hour and 40 minutes for a 30 second jab in the arm.

For a patient who's "world" is getting smaller and smaller, I am now expected to travel further and further, whatever the emotional and physical cost to me, the surgery simply does not appear to care. I have not slept properly since I found out about this and all my symptoms are being exacerbated by the stress I am under and my mental health is suffering as a result, but my well-being is seemingly of no consequence.