THE Blood Clinic at Noble's Hospital is more efficient and effective after the introduction of a new appointment system exactly a year ago.
That's according to Health Minister David Anderson MHK who was responding to a question in today's sitting of the House of Keys from north Douglas MHK Bill Henderson.
Mr Anderson said: "I am content that the efficiency and effectiveness of the blood clinic has improved since the introduction of the new system.
"Since the introduction we have been able to provide a consistently satisfactory service to both out-patients and in-patients with the same resource allocation.
"We are not compromising health and safety and I am pleased to say we have not received any complaints about the phlebotomy service from patients for well over three months now."
Appointment procedures in the Blood Clinic were changed after concerns that resources were not being used in the most effective way and that patient and staff safety was being compromised.
The clinic was also unable to provide a satisfactory blood collection service for patients on the acute wards within the Hospital.
The new system aimed to avoid long queues in the general out-patients area which were hazardous, reduce the stress placed on staff by the inconsistent and unevenly distributed weekly workload, and improve waiting times for patients.
Mr Anderson continued: "There are over 6,000 patients who are accessing our out-patient phlebotomy services now across the Island.
"Around 4,000 are being seen in the blood clinic around Noble's Hospital and around 2,000 being seen at Ramsey Cottage Hospital by District Nurses and at a selection of GP practices.
"Patients are now choosing to access services to have their blood taken in a number of different ways. This seems to meet the needs of patients."
The current waiting time for a routine appointment is 48 hours with those needing urgent blood tests allocated a same-day appointment.
Mr Anderson concluded: "The evidence suggests that we are providing a highly effective service which meets the needs of patients and we have no plans to change the system at this time.
"However we will continue to monitor the effects of phlebotomy requirements on the Hospital, on GP practices, and on in-patient services - adjusting our approach according to the needs of patients."
What do you think? Has the Blood Clinic improved since the introduction of the new appointments system? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
