When you visit the surgery or hospital, the Doctor may decide that you need to have tests or investigations. Although the Doctor may explain why the test is being done, and what the test entails, it is easy to forget!

At the top of the page, you will see buttons corresponding to a variety of tests. By clicking the button, you can see a brief overview of what the test involves and why it is being done.

A lot of administrative time is wasted taking calls for results of tests that have not yet returned to us (this is one of the reasons why it may take a long time to get through to us on the phone). The phone lines are usually very busy in the mornings with people who need to be seen urgently by the Doctor. It helps us a lot if you could wait until after 2:00pm before phoning for results. Please use the following as a guide:

X-Rays and Ultrasound:    These examinations are seen by a specialist and then they produce a typed report which is then sent to us in the post. These tests can take up to 2 weeks to return (despite what X-ray personnel may tell you to the contrary). Unless your test is very urgent, or if the Doctor has advised otherwise, you should wait at least 2 weeks before making a follow up appointment or phoning for routine results.

Blood tests:    These are very variable. Most are back within a week. Some very abnormal results are phoned through to us the same day. A few specialised tests take longer than a week. In order to provide a quicker service, we now receive our blood results online from the lab.

Tests ordered at the practice will return to the practice. However, if your test has been ordered by a hospital Doctor (while you were in hospital or during an out-patient visit) it will go to the doctor who ordered the test and not the surgery. Of course, the hospital Doctor will inform us by letter in due course - but any queries in the meantime should be directed at the Doctor who requested the test and not the surgery.