Blood test firm blamed for 'catalogue of disasters'

An NHS provider that won a £2bn contract to deliver blood-testing services for hospitals and GPs is failing to deliver reliable results, according to medical professionals.

Synnovis, a public-private partnership between the medical company Synlab and Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College hospital foundation trusts, secured the contract in 2021 to deliver pathology services for just under 200 GP surgeries across south-east London.

The BBC has spoken to GPs who say incorrect and delayed blood results are a "regular concern" and that the firm's performance is causing great distress to patients.

The company, which fell victim to a ransomware cyberattack in June 2024 that caused more than 1,000 NHS operations to be postponed, said the attack had "significantly reduced our capacity to process samples". Synnovis, which serves six hospitals in London, added that it had "dedicated every available resource to delivering clinically safe and largely manual interim solutions".

According to more than a dozen GPs we heard from, across all of south-east London's boroughs, the severity of challenges they face under Synnovis is causing anxiety for both patients and doctors.

The GPs told the BBC that the blood-test issues were leading to unnecessary hospital referrals and wasted patient appointments. In one case the BBC was told about, an elderly man who was caring for his wife with dementia needlessly spent hours in accident and emergency (A&E) due to problems with his test.

One GP, who spoke to the BBC anonymously, said: "It would [previously] never cross our minds that a blood test might not be reliable. This is now an everyday concern.

"The current problems with Synnovis is nothing short of a national scandal," they added.

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Source: BBC News, 15 April 2025