Thurrock blood test waits: Call made for community phlebotomists

Training people in phlebotomy could help tackle a town's eight-week wait for blood tests, a councillor claimed.

Residents living in Thurrock, Essex, have been facing lengthy delays in getting the vital tests, a motion put forward to the town council revealed.

Councillors have said the "diabolical service" had impacted every ward in the borough.

David Walker, of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said it was recruiting more phlebotomists.

But Neil Speight, Independent councillor for Stanford-le-Hope West, said he hoped residents could take matters into their own hands when it came to blood tests.

He said the council's health scrutiny committee had suggested to the hospital trust that people could be trained to become phlebotomists, at a cost of about £500 per person.

A Thurrock Council meeting heard a sparsity of venues for phlebotomy services had led patients to visit hospitals outside of the borough

"We did community vaccinations with Covid-19, we trained a lot of people so there is a move afoot now," he said.

"We can't rely on the foundation trust and Pathology First [so] we're going to try and see if we can do something ourselves because it's not really acceptable."

Mr Speight said residents had told him of their "frustration and despair" and added "they are saying it is a desperately worrying situation".

A Thurrock Council meeting on Wednesday, covered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, heard a sparsity of venues for phlebotomy services had led patients to visit hospitals outside the borough, including going into Kent.

Speaking on behalf of the hospital trust and Pathology First, the trust's chief medical officer, Mr Walker, apologised for the delays.

"We have been working closely with our two partners to increase capacity and ensure we can see more patients in Thurrock and the surrounding area," he said.

"Over the course of 2023 we have opened two more clinics and we are already recruiting more phlebotomists to increase the number of appointments available in Thurrock."

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