Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling patients to attend any NHS phlebotomy services for blood tests requested by their GP irrespective of the pathology provider with which their GP practice is contracted.

Decisions on the organisation of phlebotomy and pathology services are made locally by integrated care boards and National Health Service providers, reflecting local clinical pathways, safety requirements, and operational arrangements. This includes ensuring that providers have appropriate access to the original general practice test request so that the correct tests are taken, samples are handled and labelled safely, and results are returned to the requesting clinician.

Local arrangements are closely linked to laboratory systems, digital requesting and reporting processes, and established transport and handling requirements for samples. Enabling universal access across providers irrespective of existing arrangements would therefore require careful consideration of clinical governance, sample integrity, digital interoperability, and funding flows.

The Department recognises the potential benefits to patients of more flexible access to blood testing. The NHS is improving access to diagnostic services, including through community diagnostic centres and testing closer to home, and is taking forward wider work to improve data sharing and integration across services to support more joined‑up diagnostic pathways over time.