The blood taking unit (phlebotomy) has re-opened in its original location on the Northampton General Hospital site, Area H, for paediatric and adult patients.

We have made a change to our service and all patients must now have an appointment to attend the blood taking unit.

Appointments for blood taking can be booked online by going to www.swiftqueue.co.uk/northampton

The online booking is now open.

If you are unable to book via the online facility, appointments for both paediatric and adult blood taking can be booked Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 15:30 by phoning 01604 544190 or 01604 523303

Please Note:If you are having bloods taken for any of the following tests, please ensure that you book a Special Requirements Appointment:

Acute Porphyria Screen, Bullous Porphyria Screen, BCR-ABL, Cortisol, Cytogenetics, DNA Studies, Erythropoietin (EPO), JAK2, Quantiferon, White Cell Enzymes

To minimise the risk to patients during the pandemic, as a temporary measure, patients attending appointments will not need to bring their Pathology Request Form with them. However, patients should bring a request form if they have been given one by their GP practice/Consultant

The adult phlebotomy service will be from 08:00 – 16:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 – 12:30 on Saturday.

The paediatric phlebotomy service will be from 08:00 – 11:30 Monday – Friday.

All patients must wear a face covering, maintain social distancing and must attend alone where possible. The waiting area has limited spaces so please only attend 5 minutes before appointment. If there are any reasons why wearing a face covering or attending alone is not possible patients must inform the team on arrival. Patients must not attend the unit if they are experiencing any covid symptoms

Directions to the blood taking unit.

Services

The Blood Taking Unit (BTU) operates as a walk in service provising services for community and hospital clinics. The department sees over 100,000 patients a year.

The department is generally busy between 07:00 – 08:00 and 09:30 – 13:00. Some clinics in the hospital refer patients to the blood taking unit. These patients may sometimes take priority and can mean your waiting time is increased. This is done for clinical need and helps us to see our most urgent patients as soon as possible.