NHS blood test tube shortage: Doctors 'facing difficult choices'

Doctors have warned GPs are having to make difficult choices about which patients get blood tests because of the ongoing shortage of test tubes, describing it as a "perilous" situation. Due to the shortages, the NHS in England and Wales have told surgeries and hospitals to temporarily stop some blood testing, which includes tests for fertility, allergies and pre-diabetes. One woman, Alison Webb, has said she cannot have her yearly thyroid and cholesterol checked due to the shortages - and her tests are already overdue by four months.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, "The health and care system continues to work flat out with the supplier and stakeholders to put mitigations in place, and restore normal supply, and there continues to be stock in place."

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Source: BBC News, 30 August 2021