"No contact when results are negative"

Hello

Many thanks for taking the time to raise this issue with us. If you would like to get in touch with us we can certainly send you a written response that you will be able to share with your partner as you wish. Please contact one of our health advisers on 0191 259 2519.

We carry out lots of tests every week and have concentrated on letting people know if their test results are positive so we can begin treatment quickly. Over the years we have found that we need to be quite careful about giving written negative results as they can sometimes be taken out of context. Tests taken that day with negative results may not be negative at a later date, even by the time they are returned from the laboratory.

We usually tell people that “no news is good news” if they have not been contacted by the service within 10 days. We recognise however that this is not ideal as it can leave people feeling unnecessarily anxious. As a result we have been looking into how we can ensure people can hear about their results as quickly as possible, regardless of the outcome. I am delighted to be able to tell you that from 16th April we will be putting in a new system so that people will get their test results direct from the laboratory. People who are 100% negative will get a text to say “your results are clear”, without identifying which department they have attended. People who have even one positive result will be asked to telephone to speak with a health adviser.

If people do not have a mobile phone they can still ring us to speak to a health adviser.

Thanks again for getting in touch with us – I hope this response is of some help to you.

Best wishes,

Annie

Annie Laverty

Director of Patient Experience