Dr P J M Davis 110 Coppice Road

MA MB BS (LONDON 1978) DCH, DRCOG, FP CERT GMC NO. 2414940 Whitnash

Dr R M Dunn Warwickshire

MB.ChB, (BIRMINGHAM 1979) MRCGP, DRCOG, FP CERT GMC NO. 2483900 CV31 2LT

Dr K E Holtby

MB BS (LONDON 2000) MRCGP, DRCOG, DFFP GMC NO. 4711742 Tel: 01926 316711

Fax: 01926 427260

Information for Patients

Phlebotomy Service

Approximately 2 ½ years ago the PCT came to each practice in the area asking if they would like to take on responsibility for taking the blood specimens for their own patients. Until then it had been Warwick Hospital’s responsibility and they had sent technicians out to each practice but they had decided they could no longer afford to do this within the sum the PCT was offering. The PCT then approached each practice offering them the opportunity to do this and cash sum per patient to do this.

We carefully considered this but had several concerns with the contract and our ability to take it on:

· Access to the surgery was becoming an issue, with difficulty parking at busy times. It was felt that the numbers attending for blood tests was having an adverse effect on parking and waiting room space

· The staff required to provide this service, the training, the equipment and overheads to cover times of absence or holiday could not be met within the monies offered.

· We were able to negotiate for the service to be provided locally, with a system that we were happy with.

· We did inform the Health Authority of the real cost for providing this service (with no profit to ourselves), but they felt unable to accept this.

We therefore took the decision to not take on this contract. A similar decision was reached by four other practices in the immediate area as well as many in the Stratford area. The PCT then set up its own service to do this and have, for a variety of reasons including the fact it cost more to provide than they had budgeted for, moved the service back to Warwick Hospital.

It was not our decision that the Brunswick Street Centre was closed; we were not consulted about this or about the movement of the service to Warwick Hospital. In fact the first we knew was when patients started to inform us, having attended Brunswick Clinic. The local councillors and the practices are working to try to restore a convenient service in the locality for patients.

If you have any comments regarding this service please write to:

Mr David Rose, Chief Executive, Warwickshire Primary Care Trust, Westgate House, Market Street, Warwick, CV34 4DE and Gill Freer, Director of the Provider Arm of the Community Trust at the same address. The commissioning and paying for this service are their responsibility.