Results of tests and investigations

We will contact you by telephone, or by SMS text message, or by letter, only if a result is abnormal and you require treatment or further investigations. You will not be contacted if your result is normal. If you wish to enquire about the results of your tests please submit a request via Accurx. The administrative staff will give results to you or you may be asked to speak to the nurse or doctor. Adults' results will not be given to anyone other than the patient, except in exceptional circumstances.

You are also able to see test results carried out by your GP via the NHSApp. This requires registration and detailed coded access.

For any investigations ordered by a hospital doctor, please ask the hospital how they will get the result to you. GPs are not responsible for giving out test results done by hospital specialists.

Please note that 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.

Your blood tests will be sent to the laboratory, usually at Royal Cornwall Hospital where they will be examined under a microscope or tested with chemicals, depending on what is being checked.

The results are sent back to the hospital or your GP.  Some test results will be ready the same day or a few days later, although others may not be available for a few weeks.

In order to be able to manage acute illness as well as monitor chronic diseases, at Perranporth Surgery, we process up to 1,200 blood results per week.  We are unable to routinely inform patients when blood tests are normal.

You  will receive a telephone call from our admin team if you have an abnormal blood result that your doctor feels needs a follow up.

If your blood result is outside of the normal limit, your doctor may classify it in your patient record as 'Abnormal', 'Abnormal but expected', 'Borderline' or even 'Satisfactory'.  However, in combination with other blood results, knowledge about your past tests, your age and the clinical picture, your doctor may decide that this result is acceptable.  This is because this result may be normal for you and not dangerous.  Sometimes a doctor will decide to repeat blood tests within a few days, weeks or months to monitor you.

For further information, you may find the following links below useful.  They contain explanations for common blood tests and laboratory values:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/blood-tests/

https://labtestsonline.org.uk/tests-index