{"id":8220,"date":"2020-09-14T14:34:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T13:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thinkkidneys.nhs.uk\/kquip\/?p=8220"},"modified":"2020-09-14T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T14:46:27","slug":"mark-transplant-patient-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thinkkidneys.nhs.uk\/kquip\/blog\/mark-transplant-patient-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"How COVID-19 has transformed blood tests in my area, Mark, transplant patient, UK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thinkkidneys.nhs.uk\/kquip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/09\/MD-8.20-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8223\" width=\"476\" height=\"359\"\/><figcaption>From 90 minute waits and walk-in crowds, to online booking and empty waiting rooms<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Booking blood tests pre-COVID<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For transplant patients, it has always been a bit back to\nfront at my unit \u2013 you\u2019d go to your transplant clinic, be given your blood\ncards, and then have a review of your previous blood results with the\nconsultant.&nbsp; After your appointment,\nyou\u2019d go and get your bloods done.&nbsp; You\u2019d\nthen be waiting nervously for 24 hours before the results went up on Patient\nView, or you had a phone-call from one of your transplant nurses. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know how many patients are more proactive like me, but\nI always ask for my blood cards to be sent to me in advance of my appointment,\nand then arrange to go to a local walk-in centre so the bloods reviewed in the\nclinic are current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I live about a mile from my walk-in centre \u2013 and I was often\nmet with between a 30 \u2013 90 minute wait before being seen.&nbsp; Whether you did it local to you, or whether\nyou did it at the transplant clinic, there\u2019d always be a wait.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was often anything upwards of 30 \/ 40 people in the\nwaiting room when you arrived &#8211; when COVID came along, they very quickly\nrealised they had to make the blood centres by appointment only \u2013 for obvious\nreasons\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The learning cur<\/strong>ve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the beginning of COVID, when they first switched to\nappointment only, there was a centralised number you had to ring.&nbsp; Trying to get through on the phone-line was\nridiculous.&nbsp; If you didn\u2019t get the\nengaged tone, it rang and rang, and then didn\u2019t get answered.&nbsp; It was such a chore. I remember once trying\nfor the best part of 3 hours and not getting through.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are lucky like me and work from home with an\nunderstanding employer, it\u2019s not so much of an issue &#8211; I can just have it on\nredial in the background &#8211; but for those who work full time, and with less\nsympathetic employers, it could lead to a lot of distress.&nbsp; If you are working on a building site, or in\na call centre, I can imagine your boss is going to be having some words with\nyou!&nbsp; I have seen patients getting irate\nabout how long they have had to wait and the amount of time they have to take\noff work. I really do worry about those patients and how they manage with their\nstress levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The transformation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u2026since you can book online blood-tests, it is so easy!&nbsp; It took me two minutes to go on, and there was a plethora of choices.&nbsp; It\u2019s all been structured so there is a gap between patients.&nbsp; The three times I have had to go in, I arrived a couple of minutes before my appointment wearing my mask and there was no-one in the waiting room at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I came across it totally by accident on the Health Watch website\n\u2013 there\u2019s a closed Facebook group for people who are shielding in my area. I\nwas on that, and someone posted about how fed up they were about the time it\nwas taking to book a blood test, so I responded in agreement.&nbsp; Then someone from Health Watch replied to us\nall, telling us they had been receiving a high number of complaints about it\nacross the area, and that the appointment system was going to be coming on line\nshortly.&nbsp; I then went on the Health Watch\nwebsite and found a link to do it there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had no prior announcements of this (it\u2019s not the fault of\nthe renal team at all \u2013 the clinical lead (Dr K.T.) for transplantation at my\nHospital is excellent, and the renal team have been amazing \u2013 I know how busy\nthey are and the advice and information from them has been fantastic).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But since you can book online blood-tests, it is so\neasy!&nbsp; It took me two minutes to go on,\nand there was a plethora of choices.&nbsp; It\u2019s\nall been structured so there is a gap between patients.&nbsp; The three times I have had to go in, I\narrived a couple of minutes before my appointment wearing my mask and there was\nno-one in the waiting room at all. In two minutes, one of the phlebotomists\ncame out and asked me my name\/DOB and in I went.&nbsp; They ask you if you have had any COVID signs\n(they were obviously all wearing PPE), and once you are done and patched up,\noff you go. Faultless !<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is obviously the challenge that some people don\u2019t have access to the internet, or don\u2019t know how to use a computer \u2013 but the telephone lines are now freed up for those who really need to use them. If I have them done on a Friday, the latest they are on Patient View is the following Tuesday. I really can\u2019t fault it.&nbsp; It is especially helpful for those patients who are working full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthwatch.co.uk\/sites\/healthwatch.co.uk\/files\/reports-library\/20200820_Stoke%20on%20Trent_Public%20experience%20of%20blood%20tests%20during%20the%20coronavirus%20pandemic.pdf\">Read the <em>Health Watch <\/em>report on the public experience of blood tests during the coronavirus pandemic here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Booking blood tests pre-COVID For transplant patients, it has always been a bit back to front at my unit \u2013 you\u2019d go to your transplant clinic, be given your blood cards, and then have a review of your previous blood results with the consultant.&nbsp; After your appointment, you\u2019d go and get your bloods done.&nbsp; You\u2019d then be waiting nervously for 24 hours before the results went&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - 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