A HOSPITAL trust has apologised after a Bradford GP said disruption caused to the handling of patients' blood test results is causing a "clinical risk".

The GP claims surgeries across the district have experienced issues in the past month or so.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which deals with blood samples from Bradford, says this is down to the implementation of a new system.

The trust adds that delays in the processing of some blood samples has led to some patients having to be recalled and retested, or their results being delayed.

Results going 'missing' and being 'wrongly assigned to patients'

The Telegraph & Argus spoke to one Bradford GP who told us it was causing "not just a huge inconvenience but a clinical risk".

The GP, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "This is causing issues for practices and patient risk across the network.

"Patients are getting delayed results, duplicate test results, different figures, and samples are not being processed in time. 

"Results are going missing and are being wrongly assigned to patients."

Full Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust statement

Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Hospitals across the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) are implementing a shared pathology laboratory information management system (LIMS) which will provide a single solution for processing pathology testing for patients across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

"This will allow patient test results to be viewed across all six trusts, regardless of where a test was obtained, supporting working in our trusts to share work and resources and delivering a better experience for our patients.

Dr Harrison added: “Following the latest implementation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in December 2024, the trust has experienced some technical issues which have impacted some patients from Leeds and Bradford who had blood samples taken at their GP practices and community centres.

"We sincerely apologise to any patients and colleagues affected by this disruption.

“Delays in the processing of some blood samples has resulted in some patients having to be recalled and retested, or their results being delayed.

"Thanks to our shared reporting systems our GP practices have been able to highlight these issues promptly.

“We are working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible, prioritising urgent cases and minimising clinical risk.

"We know that this has been a challenge for some Leeds and Bradford GP practices, and we are keeping them updated as we resolve the issues.”