Cornwall dad with bipolar faces long wait for blood test - due to national test tube shortage
Nick from Wadebridge relies on monthly checks to ensure his medication is working properly
Last updated 2nd Sep 2021
A dad from Wadebridge who suffers from bipolar disorder is struggling to get a blood test because of the national shortage of test tubes.
Nick relies on the monthly checks to make sure his medication is working properly.
However, he has not been able to book and was told to call back towards the end of September.
Supply chain issues have led to blood test appointments being delayed or cancelled across the UK, unless "clinically urgent".
Wadebridge Surgery said it has had to make a series of changes to routine and non-urgent screenings, which were expected to last for at least four weeks.
"When you rely on a blood test - it's worrying"
Nick said: "With Covid and all that, I'm not going to lose my rag. There's so much going on in the world at this present moment it's a hard one, but I do need and rely on my results for the meetings I have with my doctor and my support team.
"I can either be very low - the tablets that I take, the limits that I have, may not be working - or, on the other hand, the tablets that I take can make me very toxic which can put my health at severe risk.
"You don't worry about McDonald's running out of burgers or KFC running out of chicken but when you rely on a blood test - me, myself, I'm waiting for other tests and they rely on these blood tests - it's worrying really".
In a statement last week, a spokesperson for the Department for Health & Social Care said: “Patient safety and continuity of care is our priority and we are working to ensure there is minimal possible impact on patient care.
“The health and care system is working closely with BD to put mitigations in place to resolve any problems if they arise".
Letters and text messages like these have been going out to patients across Cornwall and the UK.
Becton Dickinson (BD), which makes the vials, had warned serious supply chain issues across the UK have delayed production.
However on Tuesday (August 31st), it was announced the UK had secured millions of test tubes, with BD saying it had received "exceptional use authorisation" to import the tubes.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We have secured tens of millions of additional blood tubes, including importing additional supplies from the EU and the US, which will be available to the NHS soon and there continues to be stock in place to ensure clinically urgent testing continues.
"Patient safety is always the top priority and we continue to work closely with NHS England, the devolved administrations, and the NHS to minimise any impact on patient care".
It is understood nine million tubes will be supplied to the NHS this week for "immediate distribution".
BD said it has completed improvements to its manufacturing facility in the UK that has "increased production capacity by 20%" to alleviate the backlog of orders.
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