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Test Results
How and when to obtain test results from the surgery
Getting your test results
When you attend a test of any kind you will be told how long you should expect to wait for the results. Please bear this in mind and call the Surgery, once sufficient time has elapsed.
You will be asked for some personal details when calling, this is to confirm your identity. The receptionist has the right to refuse the release of medical information if he/she feels that it does not pertain to the person calling. We hope that our patients find our high standards of confidentiality satisfactory with regard to releasing this type of information.
Once a doctor has reviewed your test results, you can view them:
- in your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
- in your online services account
- phone on 01903 785152 after 2:30pm
Our Reception staff are not qualified to comment on results therefore it is your responsibility to check them and make any necessary follow-up appointment with the Doctor.
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 them.
Questions about your results
Get in touch with the surgery if you want to talk to someone about your results.
If the test was arranged by your hospital consultant
If your test has been carried out at a Clinic or Hospital please call the Clinic or Hospital for the result, as we cannot action tests which have been requested by other Clinicians outwith the practice. If the consultant’s secretary or colleague inform you they will send the results to your GP, explain that you want the results from the specialist who arranged them who is in by far the best place to give appropriate advice.
Information about your laboratory tests
For information on what your laboratory test results mean please visit Lab Tests Online
Specimens
Important
When bringing in a sample to the surgery, only samples in the correct container can be accepted. These are available from reception.
Failure to do so may mean that the test will need to be repeated.
All specimens must be provided in a suitable container and marked clearly with name, date of birth, date provided and reason for the specimen.
Urine Tests
What are urine samples used for?
Your GP or another healthcare professional may ask for a urine sample to help them diagnose or rule out health conditions. Urine contains waste products that are filtered out of the body. If it contains anything unusual, this may indicate an underlying health condition. Common reasons for being asked to provide a urine sample include;
- to diagnose or monitor certain conditions such as type 2 diabetes
- to check for a urinary tract infection (UTI)
- to check for a sexually transmitted infection (STI)
- to confirm that you are pregnant
What do I need to know about collecting a urine sample?
If you are in the practice your GP or nurse will give you a container and explain how to collect a urine sample. On certain occasions you might be asked to provide a urine sample by letter or over the phone. In these instances you can collect a sample container from our reception desk.
To collect a clean urine sample you should
- label the container with your name, date of birth and the date
- wash your hands
- wash your genitalia to avoid contamination
- start to urinate but don’t collect the first part of urine that comes out
- collect a sample of urine ‘mid-stream’ in a sample container provided by the practice
- screw the lid of the container shut
- wash your hands thoroughly
As long as the sample is clean and properly labelled you can drop the sample container in at the reception desk. If you can’t hand your urine sample in within an hour, you should keep it in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge (for no longer than 24 hours) to prevent bacteria multiplying and affecting the test results.
You can collect a urine sample at any time of day unless your GP or practice nurse advises you otherwise. If your doctor gives you any other instructions, you should also follow these.
What is a mid-stream urine sample?
A mid-stream urine sample means that you don’t collect the first part of urine that comes out or the last part. This reduces the risk of the sample being contaminated with bacteria from:
- your hands
- the skin around the urethra (tube that carries urine out of the body)
How long will I have to wait for a result?
Many urine samples can be quickly analysed using dipstick analysis so you should know the result immediately if you are in the practice or within 24 hours if you have dropped a urine sample off to us.
For some more complex tests we need to send your urine sample off for laboratory testing at one of the local hospitals. In these instances it might take up to 5 days for results to come back to the practice. These are sent electronically and are checked every day by our GPs. If there is a cause for concern we will phone or write to you within 24 hours of receiving the result. We will not routinely inform you if the results are normal.
Other Common Tests
A selection of the most common tests are explained below;
Spirometry
There are a number of chest conditions, which may cause breathing difficulties. Sometimes it is helpful to see how well you breathe out to help diagnose any condition or to see if the treatment you are having is working well. This may involve you blowing into a machine – a spirometer – which measures how well you can breathe out.
There are some requirements necessary before you have the test done, such as withholding use of your usual inhalers for a few hours, or usual tablets relating to any chest condition for 24 hours and avoiding vigorous exercise prior to the test.
Spirometry with reversibility
Sometimes you will be asked to undertake a spirometry test with reversibility. This means you will be asked to blow into the machine without using your inhalers first and then again after you have used your inhalers.
Doppler studies
A Doppler test is undertaken to help measure the flow of blood through the arteries in your arms and legs using sound waves to make a noise when blood flow is detected. The Doppler is used in place of the stethoscope normally used when taking blood pressures. The test is to detect if there are any abnormalities in the flow of blood in your vessels.
A Doppler assessment is a painless procedure and often undertaken as part of any overall assessment of whether provision of support or compression hosiery (full length or knee high stockings or socks) may be helpful to you.
Helicobacter Breath Test
Helicobacter pylori is a germ which can infect the lining of the stomach and can cause a range of stomach problems for some people. Once identified, it can be easily treated with a course of antibiotics and acid suppressing medicines.
Infection with helicobacter pylori can be confirmed with a breath test performed by the nurse at the surgery. A sample of your breath is analysed after you have taken a special drink given to you.
There are some requirements necessary before you take the test such as withholding any regularly taken antibiotics or stomach medications for a few weeks.
Hearing Tests (Audiometry)
Damage to any part of the ear can cause a hearing loss. Problems may occur in the ear canal or the middle ear and hearing loss can be temporary or permanent. A hearing test checks whether there is a problem with any of the different mechanisms that allow a person to hear.
The test involves the use of a special machine called an audiometer, which plays a series of tones through headphones, which you will be asked to wear. The tones vary in pitch and loudness and the nurse conducting the hearing test will control the volume and tone of the sounds relayed through the machine. You will be asked to respond to each sound you hear even if very faint.
The results of a hearing test will form a graph called an audiogram. This will show if there is any pattern to the hearing loss you may be experiencing and help your doctor assess the most appropriate management.
Blood Pressure Check
Blood pressure is the pressure created when blood is forced out of the heart and comes into contact with the walls of the arteries which transport blood around the body. The pressure of blood flowing in the arteries changes according to the different phases of the heartbeat cycle. The pressure in the arteries will be at its highest when the heart is ‘contracting’ and pumping blood out, and at its lowest as the heart relaxes before it pumps again.
Blood pressure is recorded as two numbers: the systolic pressure (as the heart beats) and the diastolic (as the heart relaxes between beats). The numbers are written one above or before the other, the systolic number on top and the diastolic on the bottom.
Your target blood pressure should be less than 150/90 unless you have been told otherwise. If you have any coronary heart disease such as angina or have had a heart attack or stroke, or have diabetes or kidney disease, it is better for your target blood pressure to be less than 130/80.
High blood pressure – hypertension – means that your blood pressure is constantly higher than the recommended target blood pressure. Over time if this is not treated, you become more at risk of heart disease or having a stroke.
You may be asked to come to see a nurse for a blood pressure check and if it is found to be above the recommended target, you may also be asked to have a number of tests – blood tests, an electrocardiogram (ECG), a painless procedure which records the electrical activity of the heart, ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) which records your blood pressure over a 12 hour period during the day – to help your doctor decide if treatment is necessary.
Home Blood Pressure Monitoring
Surgery blood pressure measurements do not always give a true picture of what your blood pressure is doing over your normal day. Some people are found to have a higher blood pressure when at the surgery or when they are not relaxed.
It is now recommended that a better way to check your blood pressure is to measure it yourself twice each morning and evening when you are at home, relaxed and comfortable. This will then give us an idea as to what your blood pressure really is, and whether the measureents we take in the surgery are similar to those you record at home.
If you have your own blood pressure monitor, you may be asked to record a series of readings over a week to be averaged and recorded in your notes. If you do not have your own machine, you may be loaned a machine from the surgery which a nurse will demonstrate how to use. (Please check with reception regarding the availability of blood pressure monitoring equipment).