"No coherent system for out-patients to obtain tests results"

I have an outpatient appointment with a consultant usually once every 6 months. He might ask for eg. a sputum sample, or I might bring a sputum sample with me. He'll give me a form and I (or his nurse) will give the sputum sample and form to the path lab after the consultation. It's important to me to know whether I have an infection or not as soon as possible. The next appt. is 6 months away. Not only are the lab results not sent to me, they are not even sent to my GP. How am I supposed to find out the results? The only thing I can do is phone the consultant's secretary and beg her to read me the lab results. Some will; some won't. This happens with every outpatient appointment with a consultant where test results are in issue. Surely there should be a system where all test results are automatically sent to the patient's GP, even if not directly to the patient. Also, I was told that consultants are not permitted to communicate with patients by email. Why not if I agree to any possible data issues?