After writing to St Albans hospital about residents’ concerns, I received a reply from the hospital setting out some improvements. I have written back again about my remaining concerns. In short:
Walk-in appointments are available for urgent requests and since my writing the criteria for urgent blood tests has now been communicated to GPs and their staff (who need to make the urgent referral)
There is now a telephone booking line to cater for patients who may face digital barriers. The opening hours will now be increased to Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, and patients can access it by phoning 01727 897 376.
I’m still very concerned about waiting times. The truth is that the waiting times from referral to receiving results has gone from approx 3 days to 3 weeks. The hospital itself can only look at waiting times from the point at which someone books their appointment on the app to the blood test happening. So I’ll write to the Integrated Care Board to see if we can get that data from GPs and assess its impact.
Full letter here 
