A local medical centre “salud” in Mallorca – the equivalent of a fairly large UK GP surgery – operates an excellent phlebotomy service. Patients are given an appointment for a blood test for the following morning at 08.00 am (or at the latest on the following morning). At 08.00, when the surgery opens some 20 or so people are lined up outside the door with more arriving shortly thereafter. With all hands on deck, two admin ladies generate bar coded labels which are attached to the blood sample request form and to the appropriate number and colour of blood sample bottles, patients, clasping their paperwork and sample bottles then move into the queue for three or four tables where nurses / paramedics extract blood samples and pop paperwork and samples into plastic bags with the minimum of admin. Within 30 to 45 minutes some 30 or so patients are on their way to their workplace or school and the members of the blood extraction team move onto their day job.

Any scope for such an arrangement to be adopted in North Hampshire???