We will contact you by telephone or text message if your result is abnormal. The doctor may ask to see you or if  require further blood tests to be arranged.

If your result is normal, you will not be contacted.

If you would like to check the result of your test, please telephone the surgery on 0131 334 5000 after 10.30am. Our reception staff can only relay the clinician’s comments after the result has been reviewed.
For confidentiality reasons, we can only give results directly to the patient who had the test, unless we have consent on file naming the representative we are permitted to speak to.  Please see our section, Patient Forms if you need to fill out a consent form.

If your test was arranged at a clinic or hospital, please contact them directly for your result, as we cannot access or action tests requested by clinicians outside the practice.
If their staff advise you that they will send results to your GP, please explain that you require the result from the specialist who ordered the test, as they are best placed to provide accurate and appropriate advice.

We would ask you to allow a week before you call for your result unless your clinician has advised of a different timescale – shorter or longer.

Occasionally, your doctor or nurse may request that you provide a specimen for testing. If you have not already been given an appropriate sample container, please obtain one from reception. Using any other type of container may result in contamination, and you may be asked to provide a new sample. 

Please ensure your specimen is clearly labelled with either an official clinical label or your handwritten name and date of birth. If it is not labelled correctly, it will be discarded.

Please only submit a sample if you have be specifically asked to do so.  Any samples that have not been requested will be disposed of.

Please ensure all specimens are handed in at the reception desk before 2:00 pm on any working day.
Do not place specimens in the letterbox. This ensures your sample is processed in time for the laboratory’s final collection.

Laboratory collections take place at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
Samples received after 2:00 pm may miss the scheduled collection, and you may be required to resubmit your specimen.

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.