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Often, yes, but it depends on where you want to take it. Your GP blood test form can usually be used at any clinic on your local NHS blood test booking system. A hospital run by a different NHS trust may not accept it, because each trust has its own request and laboratory rules. You can also pay a private phlebotomist to take the blood and send it to the laboratory named on your form. Your results then go back to your GP as normal.
This guide explains each option, what it costs, who receives your results and when you should not wait for a convenient slot at all.
Swift Blood Tests is a separate, private blood testing service. We are not part of the NHS.
If your form is marked urgent, or your GP or hospital team told you the test needs doing within a set time, contact them before you look elsewhere. The clinician who requested the test can arrange urgent appointments that are not shown on the public booking system.
If you feel unwell while you are waiting, do not wait for a blood test appointment. Contact your GP surgery or NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.
This is usually the easiest option. Most local NHS phlebotomy services let you book at any of their clinics, not only the one nearest your surgery. If your usual clinic is fully booked, look at the other sites on the same booking system before you assume there are no NHS appointments.
In south Essex, for example, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust takes bookings for hospital blood test clinics, including Basildon, online or on 01702 746065. Its clinics are not walk-in unless your GP or referring clinician says so (MSE NHS blood tests).
Most NHS blood test clinics in Essex are booked online. On the booking system used by local trusts, you now log in with your NHS login. You cannot currently book these appointments in the NHS App.
If you cannot find a suitable slot at any of the clinics, use the options below.
This is where you are most likely to be turned away. There is no single national rule that every NHS blood clinic accepts every GP form. Each trust’s phlebotomy and pathology service sets its own rules on which requests it accepts and which laboratory it sends samples to.
Some hospitals do not take blood for GP patients on site at all and send them to community clinics instead. Before you travel to a hospital in another area, ring its phlebotomy department and ask whether it can accept a request from your GP practice.
Many GP surgeries now send blood test requests electronically, so you may never be given a paper form. Rules differ between areas. One NHS trust in Staffordshire says patients will not be seen anywhere without a paper request form (UHNM). Parts of north London have moved to paperless requests, but printed forms are still used there for some sites and patients (NHS North Central London).
If you plan to have your blood taken somewhere other than your usual clinic, ask your surgery whether you need a printed form.
A form from a hospital consultant often goes to that hospital’s own laboratory, and some tests can only be taken at the main hospital clinic. Mid and South Essex, for instance, says some specialised tests can only be done at Basildon or Southend hospitals because those sites are close to the testing laboratory. Your form or your clinician should tell you if this applies.
Some GP surgeries take blood for hospital requests and some do not. Ask your practice before you book.
If no NHS slot works for you, see how a private blood draw with your GP form works.
This is possible in many cases. The key thing to understand is that a blood test has two separate parts:
A private phlebotomy service handles the collection only. Your GP is still the person who requested the test, the laboratory on your form still does the analysis and the results still go back to your GP. You are paying for a more convenient appointment, not for a private blood test.
Not every private provider works this way. Some take your blood and then hand the sample back for you to deliver to the hospital yourself, so ask who takes the sample to the lab before you book.
| NHS blood test clinic | Private blood draw with your GP form | |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes your blood | NHS phlebotomist | Private phlebotomist |
| Where | NHS hospital or community clinic | Private clinic, or at home or work |
| Booking | Your local NHS online booking system | Directly with the private provider |
| Who analyses the sample | The laboratory on your form | The laboratory on your form |
| Who receives the results | The clinician who requested the test | The clinician who requested the test |
| Cost to you | Free | The provider’s appointment fee |
If your GP sent the request electronically and you don’t have a paper form, call us on 01277 652067 before you book so we can check what we need from you.
A blood draw for your GP or hospital form costs £40 per appointment at Swift Blood Tests, whether you come to our clinic or we visit you at home in Essex. If you need several samples taken at the same visit, you pay the single appointment rate. A travel surcharge may apply outside our standard coverage area, and we’ll confirm the total before you book.
The £40 covers taking and delivering your sample. It does not buy a separate private test. The tests on your form are processed by the laboratory your GP chose, as part of their request. If you want tests your GP hasn’t asked for, read how to get a private blood test without a referral and what private blood tests cost in the UK.
If our phlebotomist can’t collect a sample, which is rare, you are not charged.
Book a £40 blood draw for your GP form
With a GP or hospital form, your results go to the clinician who asked for the test, wherever your blood was taken. Swift Blood Tests does not receive or interpret your results from a GP form. When they’re ready, and what happens next, depends on your surgery or hospital team, so contact them if you’re waiting. We can tell you when your sample was sent.
This matters for your safety. Your GP stays responsible for reviewing the results and following up anything abnormal, just as if you’d had the test at an NHS clinic.
NHS blood tests at the Mid and South Essex hospital clinics, including Basildon, are booked online or on 01702 746065. NELFT’s South West Essex Community Phlebotomy Service also covers Basildon, Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford, with online bookings and some walk-in clinics (NELFT phlebotomy). Check every site on both systems before you decide there’s nothing available.
If nothing suits you, Swift Blood Tests’ clinic is at Unit 7 Whites Farm, Barleylands Road, Basildon SS15 4BG, with weekday appointments from early morning. That can help if you need a fasting test before work.
NELFT runs community blood tests at the Community Diagnostic Centre at Thurrock Community Hospital in Grays. At the time of writing it offered weekday walk-in slots between 8am and 11am, plus booked appointments. It also runs a walk-in clinic on Thursdays at Corringham Integrated Wellbeing Medical Centre and booked clinics at Brentwood Community Hospital. NELFT clinics are for patients aged 16 and over, and NHS home visits are for adults aged 18 and over.
Swift Blood Tests doesn’t have a clinic in Thurrock, but we offer home visits there. See our blood tests in Thurrock page for details.
Our phlebotomists visit homes and workplaces in Basildon, Billericay, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Wickford, Stock, Ingatestone, Thurrock, Upminster, Maldon and Southend-on-Sea. Enter your postcode when you book. If you’re outside our standard area, we’ll confirm whether we can visit and any extra cost before you pay.
Home visits can suit people who are housebound, have difficult veins or a fear of needles, care for young children, or can’t easily get to a hospital clinic. For more local options, see our guide to private blood tests in Essex.
If you’re not sure whether your form is suitable, contact Swift Blood Tests about your blood test form or call 01277 652067 with the form in front of you.
This is sometimes possible. Clinics on the same local NHS booking system will usually accept it. A hospital run by a different trust may not, because it may only accept requests from GP practices in its own area or that use its own laboratory. Ring the hospital’s phlebotomy department before you go.
You can do this. A private phlebotomist can take your blood and send it to the laboratory on your form. You pay for the appointment, and the laboratory still reports the results to your GP. At Swift Blood Tests this costs £40 per appointment in Essex.
There is no single national expiry rule, but some tests are only useful if they’re done at a particular time, such as monitoring tests or checks before or after a change in medication. If your form is several weeks or months old, ask your surgery whether the test is still needed before you book.
Swift Blood Tests is a separate, private company. You don’t need an NHS appointment to use our service, just the blood test form from your GP or hospital team.
When the sample goes to the laboratory on your GP’s form, the laboratory reports the results to the clinician who requested the test. Contact your surgery for your results.
Our phlebotomists are experienced with children, and a parent or guardian should be present for anyone under 16. Please call us before booking for a child so we can check the form and arrange the right appointment.
Our phlebotomists are experienced with difficult veins. If a sample can’t be collected, you are not charged.
If you already have your GP blood test form, can’t get a suitable NHS appointment and your test isn’t urgent, a private blood draw is usually the quickest way to get your sample to your GP’s laboratory. Book a clinic or home blood draw with Swift Blood Tests.
This article is general information, not medical advice. Always follow the instructions of the clinician who requested your blood test.
