Test results are available daily. Please allow three working days before contacting the surgery for your results.

Please rest assured, should there be a concern with your results, one of our staff members will contact you. If there is an immediate concern with your result, your GP will contact you directly.

Once you have been to the Surgery or the Royal Alexandra Hospital to have certain tests performed (i.e. blood tests) it is your responsibility to contact us for the result within three to five working days of having the tests done.

However, we must emphasise that if you have had a blood test or any other test that have been requested via Secondary Care for a Consultant or a Specific Clinic, you must contact the Consultants Secretary or the Clinic themselves to find out these results.

We cannot divulge any information of any test results that have not been requested by ourselves.

A blood test is when a sample of blood is taken for testing in a laboratory. Blood tests have a wide range of uses and are one of the most common types of medical test. For example, a blood test can be used to:

• assess your general state of health
• confirm the presence of a bacterial or viral infection
• see how well certain organs, such as the liver and kidneys, are functioning

A blood test usually involves the phlebotomist taking a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm and the usual place for a sample is the inside of the elbow or wrist, where the veins are relatively close to the surface. Blood samples from children are most commonly taken from the back of the hand. The childs hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken.

You can find out more about blood tests, their purpose and the way they are performed on the NHS Choices website.

An X-ray is a widely used diagnostic test to examine the inside of the body. X-rays are a very effective way of detecting problems with bones, such as fractures. They can also often identify problems with soft tissue, such as pneumonia or breast cancer.

If you have an X-ray, you will be asked to lie on a table or stand against a surface so that the part of your body being X-rayed is between the X-ray tube and the photographic plate.

An X-ray is usually carried out by a radiographer, a healthcare professional who specialises in using imaging technology, such as X-rays and ultrasound scanners.

You can find out more about x-ray tests, how they are performed, their function and the risks by visiting the NHS Choices website.