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Blood Testing at Corbetts

Story from nhs.uk

"Blood Testing at Corbetts"

About: Corbett Hospital

I need to have a blood test done every 6 months as I am diabetic. Usually, it is a fasting test, necessitating eating nor drinking anything but water for a number of hours. The wait is always long and stressful, but....... Yesterday I went to Corbetts and on entering, could not believe the amount of people that were gathered in the foyer. The entrance was partially blocked by wheelchairs and the dismal corridor where one waits for a blood test was crammed to its limits. I was told that it was a 'double warfarin clinic' as last Monday, being a Bank Holiday there had been no warfarin clinic at all. Thus there were double the amount of people attending. I am sure that my comments would be echoed by all of the people in that corridor. There were many elderly people, numerous walking aids, including one mobile scooter. Incredible! Had there been a fire or another emergency, God forbid, only the able would have escaped. I dread to think what would have happened to the rest......people who could hardly walk at all. I arrived in the department at 10.00 am and left after my blood test at 11.15 am, having not eaten since 8.00 pm the following evening. This is not the best kind of situation for a diabetic. Furthermore, I stood for most of the time having given up my seat to a little old lady who had been leaning half against the wall and half against her shopping trolley.When I arrived, my ticket number was 156. The display was showing 85! I have to say that I have no problem with the staff, and the people waiting maintained a sense of humour at the ridiculousness of the situation. An air of war-time unity abounded! The powers that be must be aware of the situation and in the name of humanity and health and safety, surely something could be done to remedy this situation?

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Responses

Response from Corbett Hospital 8 years ago
Corbett Hospital

Submitted on 21/05/2015 at 17:32
Published on nhs.uk on 22/05/2015 at 01:00

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback about your experience of our blood testing service at Corbett Outpatient Centre. It is always our aim to provide a high quality service to all our patients and we are sorry to hear that your experience was less than satisfactory during your most recent visit. Because we offer a walk-in service, the number of patients attending for a blood test on any given day can be very unpredictable and, as a result, the department can sometimes get very busy. We appreciate how frustrating this can be, particularly if you have to fast before your blood test, and so from the beginning of July we will be offering a booked appointment service at Corbett for fasting patients. Patients can also have an appointment-based blood test at 13 GP practices across the borough, including Netherton, Brierley Hill, Kingswinford and Halesowen, which can often be more convenient as they are closer to home. We offer walk-in blood tests at Guest Outpatient Centre five days a week between 8am and 1pm and at Russells Hall Hospital throughout the week. Please see our website for blood test opening times: http://dudleygroup.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/blood-tests/ We are also in the process of recruiting additional phlebotomists to work at Corbett, and we are making improvements to the blood test area to further improve our walk-in service. We can understand your concerns about the numbers of people who attend for their outpatient appointments and would like to reassure you that all our staff are fire safety trained and, in the event of a fire or other emergency, strict protocols are put in place to ensure the safety of all patients, visitors and staff. We welcome all feedback and would like to assure you that all comments are taken seriously and acted upon as part of our on-going commitment to improving patient experience.

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