England (Commonwealth Union) – An investigation conducted by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), indicates that private firms are providing private blood tests in the UK on a wide variety of conditions, with some making deceptive claims, with no evidence, further straining the overworked NHS (National Health Service) to follow up “abnormal results”.
Experts from the University of Bristol and University of St Andrews expressed their concern in many areas and state that private blood testing companies require clear regulation to block further low quality, exaggerated testing bringing negative effects to individuals as well as excessive costs for the NHS.
Consumers are often misled with tests around tests that help patients identify and control their health issues early. However, BMJs medical journalist Emma Wilkinson stated that the tests often dispute official medical guidance and fail to provide the entire picture on the impact of the results.
Recent report indicated similar issues with people accessing online medical reports and having difficulty interpreting the results and at times getting distressed when the results are negative and not fully briefed on the options available to them.
Dr Jessica Watson, a GP who co-authored the linked Opinion piece and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Fellow at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Academic Primary Care, said: “What’s important to understand is that even in healthy people, 1 in 20 tests results will lie outside of our reference ranges just by chance alone which do not signify disease but understandably can trigger anxiety for patients, and potentially increased workload in the NHS.”
Dr Watson further stated that if persons are sick or have symptoms, the initial approach of patient-led pick and mix testing should be avoided, as doctors generally begin by questioning and by potentially doing an examination and then carefully select the right tests for the patient.
