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Care Opinion

Waiting times for blood test

Posted By HWT

"Waiting times for blood test"

About: Stretford Memorial Hospital / General surgery

(as a staff member posting for a patient/service user),

When I've been to Stretford Memorial Hospital the waiting times for blood tests have been as long as 4 hours. Because the service closes at 12pm, unless you go at 6 or 7 am in the morning and wait for them to open at 8. 30 / 9. 00 am you have to wait.

The problem is that there's no place to wait either. There are a few steel chairs in a corridor which is ok if you're young. If you wait in the car you lose your place in the queue.

I'd suggest more opening days (it's only available 2 days at the moment).

Or couldn't dedicated nurses do blood tests at GP surgeries?

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Responses

Response from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust 9 years ago
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 07/11/2014 at 11:41
Published on Care Opinion at 12:38

Thank you for taking the time to highlight the areas of concern that you experienced on your recent visit to the Phlebotomy clinic at Stretford Memorial Hospital. We were sorry to learn of your poor experience of our service. The Phlebotomy clinics run on Tuesday and Friday mornings between 8.30am – 1pm. We try to adequately staff the clinics at all times, but unfortunately this may not always be possible due to annual leave or sickness absence. However, the staff do try to see each patient in turn and to reduce queues as quickly as possible, so that patients do not have to wait longer than necessary. Patient numbers can fluctuate from one week to the next and it may be possible that you attended for a blood test on a day when there were unusually high numbers of patients. There is a small waiting area with seating which is usually adequate for the number of patients attending the clinics but this is something that we will monitor and look to improve if necessary.

Due to the average number of patients currently attending these clinics there are no plans at present to increase the number of phlebotomy clinics at Stretford.

Unfortunately we are unable to comment on whether GP surgeries could provide dedicated nurses to carry out blood tests as we are not commissioned to provide those services. We can however, forward your comments to the Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group which is responsible for Primary Care Services in Trafford.

It is difficult to respond to all the posts in a full way often because of a lack of detailed information, therefore if you would like to discuss this with us in more detail, please feel free to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0161 276 8686 or by e-mailing pals@cmft.nhs.uk

The Patient Experience Team

Central Manchester University Hospitals

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