Burnham Health Centre

Investigations and test results

Online access to your practice investigations

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How to obtain online access to your test results

Online access to your medical record can allow you to book and change appointments, order prescriptions, review any test results and review your notes. This is easy to arrange, and we explain the benefits and how to do it under Online Access To Your Medical Record.

Practice process for follow up of any test generated by a GP practice clinician

When your tests are done you should be told how long it will be before the results are available at the practice. The practice does not routinely contact patients to give them test results. We only contact patients where there is an urgent need for them to be seen. If you have had tests done but haven’t heard from us, then it is safe to assume that the results are normal.

If you want to know your results, you can obtain your practice test results in a number of ways:

  • Online: This is the quickest and simplest way of viewing your results and there is information on how you can do this under online access to your records. You will be able to view your results as soon as they come into the practice and have been commented on by your GP. If you are already registered, you can log in above.
  • By telephoning reception: You can speak to reception about your results. It is best to call after 13:30 when our reception staff are more likely to have more time to deal with your request.
  • In person with the clinician who ordered your tests: You may have agreed with the clinician who ordered your tests that you would review the results together.
  • The surgery ringing you directly: If the test results are significantly abnormal, we will contact you.

Responsibility to check results
It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if you are advised to do so.

Doctor’s comments on your results
We explain below in detail “What the doctor’s comments mean for your blood tests and results”. Please note that when you look at your results online, you may notice that some of them may lie outside the ranges marked as normal. This normal range is an average for the whole country and as with any average, there are numbers that lie above or below it which contribute to the range. Your result may not fit into this “normal” range, but that does not mean that it is not normal for you. The important thing to note is any comment that has been added by the GP when they checked your results. Remember that if the GP considers your results seriously abnormal, they will contact you.

Test results are only released to the person to whom they relate unless there is proxy access
Please be aware that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection, and we will only release test results to the person to whom they relate unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results. If you want to arrange another person to access and discuss your results, then you have to formally arrange this. This is explained further under Proxy Access and you can complete a practice form to obtain access under Online Access To Your Records.

Normal, No Action – This means that the doctor has looked at the result and deemed it to be within the normal range for the test and so no further investigation or treatment is needed.

Just outside of normal range, no action – This means that the doctor has looked at the result and deemed it to be very close to the normal range for the test and the result is not concerning. Some patients have consistently out of range results that are “normal” for them.

Stable – This means that the doctor has looked at the result and deemed them stable and the result is not concerning so will just monitor result(s) and patient.

Urine Infection on correct antibiotics – This means infection has been confirmed but you are already on the correct treatment.

Diagnostic Ultrasound Service – CURRENTLY SUSPENDED
We now have a diagnostic ultrasound service running at Burnham Health Centre .  This is not a walk in service, but the doctors at the Health Centre will be able to refer you. It is hoped that this will save the need to go to other diagnostic centres like those at St Marks Hospital Maidenhead or in Cressex.

The service will be able to do assessments of the Aorta, Biliary Tract, Gallbladder, Inferior Vena Cava, Kidneys, Liver, Pancreas, Retroperitoneum and Spleen. They will also be able to do Gynaecological, renal, bladder, prostate, scrotal, testicular and musculoskeletal scans.

Unfortunately they are unable to supply obstetric services, so scans for pregnancy will still need to be done by your usual provider and those who are under 18 years of age or who are private patients will also no be able to access the service.

For those referred into the service, the aim is to see you within 10 working days of the referral date.

Results are normally returned to the Health Centre the following day and once checked by a doctor will be available via the usual routes.

Appointments
Many ultrasounds, some echocardiograms and 24-hour ECGs, and a few MRI scans are organised by GPs. Once the GP has done the referral, they get no further information until the result comes back. To ensure there are no problems with your appointment consider:

  • Ensuring the appointment is communicated correctly by updating your personal contact details if there have been any changes before attending your GP practice (this is easily done see under Update Your Personal Details)
  • Contacting the service provider after 3 weeks if you have not heard about an appointment date (contact details of some of the common service providers are included below)
  • If you have to miss an appointment, cancelling the appointment with the provider yourself (thus allowing someone else to have your appointment) and organising a new appointment. Failure to do so can otherwise result in you been discharged and having to start the process all over again with your GP practice, substantially delaying your appointment.
  • If you decide you do not need the appointment telling both the service provider and your GP practice.

Reporting of results
The timescale for results coming back is variable as they all need to be reported on by the service provider (e.g., hospital x-ray department) and this is staff dependent. It will often take at least 1 week even for the quickest results, but you can check with the service provider when you have the test. Do not assume the result is normal if you hear nothing from the practice it maybe that they have not received the result. You can check with the practice if they have received the result in the suggested timescale and if they have not received the result, you should phone the service provider to check there is a genuine delay in the result been processed. You can find how to contact the common providers of diagnostics below.

Under Local Contact Details and Service Finder there are links to the contact details for

  • Local diagnostic services (including x-rays, scans and cardiology tests) completed by community services (e.g., physiotherapy) and hospital departments.
  • Local hospitals.

Follow up of any test generated by a hospital or community clinician

The follow up of hospital generated tests is covered in detail, including what to do if you have any difficulties, see under

  • Hospital – see section on “after your appointment”

In brief, after you have had a test organised by a hospital or community clinician, they will normally feedback the result in the next appointment they have with you or write to you with the result. This also applies to tests organised by community services such as physiotherapists. Your GP will only receive a copy of the result when the hospital or community service has fully explained the result and any associated actions to you. Your GP has no control over this process, so it is always best to contact the relevant service provider directly.

You have two options

  • Wait for the outpatient appointment to receive your results.
  • If you are concerned there has been some delay in this appointment you should contact the hospital or community department directly. Some of the common contact details are provided below:

You can often find direct contact details on your outpatient letter or alternatively you can go through switch board to find the relevant department for any hospital

Under Local Contact Details and Service Finder there are links to the contact details for

  • Local hospitals
  • Local community services (e.g., community physiotherapy who may undertake diagnostic tests)

Are investigations (including blood tests) always helpful?

Many tests have real value in ensuring the best quality care for patients but not all and this has potential costs for patients and to the NHS. This is explained further under Investigations – Choosing Wisely, including how better choices can be made.

Understand investigations and test results

Under Investigations (including blood tests) there is local and national information on test results. This includes

  • Local support self-referral which includes how online access to your test results can help you and the practice
  • General guidance which includes how to read your practice online results and what is the reference (normal) range
  • Test result abnormalities includes common test result abnormalities and what they mean
  • Tests for specific conditions includes common tests for specific conditions and why they are done
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