Test results

It is your responsibility to check your own test results. This includes all:

Blood tests
Urine samples
Stool samples
Swabs
X-rays
Scans
Colonoscopies and endoscopies
ECGs and echocardiograms

Test results are best viewed via the NHS app and will appear as soon as the clinician reviewed them.

Results can also be given out over the phone between 14:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday. 

The doctor or nurse will have told you how long you should wait before calling for your results – please do not call earlier than this as we will not have the results available.

Please be aware that if the doctor has ordered more than one test for you, the results may not all arrive at the same time, so please make sure you check this with our staff when you call.

Please note that we 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. 

After your results have been received by the practice, a clinician will review them and write a comment which can be viewed online or read out by the Reception team to you over the phone.

The Reception Team will be able to read out the comment made by the doctor and tell you what action to take next, but will not be able to comment on exactly what the comments mean.  Possible comments might include:

“Normal” or “Stable” – this means that no further action is needed, although if you are still concerned about your symptoms then you should make an appointment for review.  
“Abnormal, not urgent – patient to book appt” – this means that there is an abnormality in your results that should be discussed with a doctor. If it is marked as “not urgent”, it means that no immediate action needs to be taken by you or the doctor. The GP will be aware that it can take 4-6 weeks to book a routine appointment, and the result will not need to be dealt with sooner than this if they have marked it as “not urgent”.  

Sometimes the GP might contact you directly about your results. This could include receiving a phone call or a text message.

For example, we might text you if your vitamin D level is low as this is very common and can be managed without having an appointment.

We might also text you to let you know about a result, such as if you have high cholesterol or other abnormalities, that we would like to discuss with you. If this happens, please book a routine appointment.

You may also be contacted if an urgent referral or next step is needed.

Sometimes you might receive an automated text message saying that one or more of your results was normal. This does not mean that ALL of your results were normal, so you should still check these yourself.

Very occasionally, a blood test result might be worryingly abnormal and require more urgent action. Results like these can be phoned through to the 111 service by the lab.

A doctor from 111 might then try to contact you by phone to arrange possible urgent next steps, which can occasionally involve going to A+E for a repeat blood test if needed.

They may contact you overnight or on weekends in certain rare situations. Please therefore keep your mobile phone turned on for the 48 hours after your test in case you need to be contacted urgently. 

A blood test is when a sample of blood is taken for testing in a laboratory. Blood tests have a wide range of uses and are one of the most common types of medical test. For example, a blood test can be used to: 

assess your general state of health
confirm the presence of a bacterial or viral infection
see how well certain organs, such as the liver or kidneys, are functioning

A blood test usually involves the phlebotomist taking a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm and the usual place for a sample is the inside of the elbow or wrist, where the veins are relatively close to the surface.

Blood samples from children are most commonly taken from the back of the hand. The child’s hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken. 

An X-ray is a widely used diagnostic test to examine the inside of the body. X-rays are a very effective way of detecting problems with bones, such as fractures. They can also often identify problems with soft tissue, such as pneumonia or breast cancer. 

If you have an X-ray, you will be asked to lie on a table or stand against a surface so that the part of your body being X-rayed is between the X-ray tube and the photographic plate. 

An X-ray is usually carried out by a radiographer, a healthcare professional who specialises in using imaging technology, such as X-rays and ultrasound scanners.