When should I have a blood test?

So when it is beneficial to have a test done and what is used for?

Whilst you’re having a consultation with a doctor they are weighing up in their minds what further investigations are needed (if any). At the end of that consultation the doctor will know what conditions they are worried about and how to rule them in or out. So the most important time you should have a blood test is if your doctor tells you it’s important to have one. The tests they select will be carefully chosen based on your symptoms and the results can then help guide (along with your medical symptoms) what a treatment plan might look like.

Should I go ahead and have a blood test without talking to the doctor?

This is a very unclear area with little convincing evidence. There is huge national companies that are offering self-taken blood tests with self-interpretation of results. But without speaking to a medical practitioner I don’t feel you can safely say you have been able to consider all the conditions of concern. Some blood tests are fairly unhelpful without the correlating history- for example a rheumatoid factor might be hugely significant in someone with inflammatory joint disease but a significant proportion of the population might have a positive rheumatoid factor and never have rheumatoid arthritis (it’s positive in about 15% of the general population).

Screening test and the ‘prostate cancer blood test’

Screening is offered in the UK for significant medical problems where the tests are reliable enough and where catching the condition early enough changes the treatment outcomes. Making a decision of whether screening a condition is complex and we are lucky in the UK that all of this is offered for free. So if you are invited for screening it’s because you are the right age, we have the right tests and there is treatment available for that condition.

‘Screening’ for other conditions isn’t so helpful; not because the government don’t care about your health but because we don’t have reliable enough tests available for that condition. The most talked about one is the PSA test for prostate cancer. The reason PSA testing isn’t used for prostate cancer is that the test isn’t reliable enough- it causes too many false positives (the test is positive but the patient doesn’t have cancer) and false negatives (15% of the patients with prostate cancer don’t have a positive PSA test). PSA blood testing is helpful in targeted groups- family history or those with symptoms but not useful as national screening. It might be that a better test will come along for prostate cancer in which case this will be reassessed.

Do we offer blood tests here at Coastal?

Of course we do. Mostly the patients having blood tests are ones either having it as a wellness screen with a full GP discussion before or following a normal GP consultation where the tests needed are carefully discussed.

We also offer blood tests if another doctor wants them- so if your NHS GP has asked for him or maybe a private consultant would like them and it’s more convenient to have them done with us.

But we don’t offer patients self requested tests- the results are rarely helpful either for you to understand or our GPs to assess when they come back when they have no history to go on. More importantly they might offer you false reassurance whilst missing potentially significant conditions if the right tests haven’t been selected.

If you’re worried about your health or have new symptoms then please come and talk to our doctors and we can support you with the right investigations.

Blood tests are vital to monitoring your health and catching potential issues early. They can provide valuable insights into your overall health, including the status of your organs, your risk for certain diseases, and how well your current treatment plan is working. But how often should you get blood tests? The frequency of blood tests depends on factors such as age, health history, and lifestyle.

The Role of Blood Tests in Health Monitoring

Blood tests help healthcare providers assess a wide range of health conditions. They can detect anything from vitamin deficiencies to chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and kidney problems. Regular blood tests allow you to track changes in your health over time and catch potential issues before they become serious.