Since the beginning of the pandemic access to routine appointments has been severely limited. Our doctors and nurses have been under enormous pressure to look after the most vulnerable patients, minimise the spread of the disease, and now to oversee the roll-out of the vaccination programme, and so we all understand the need for them to prioritise which patients they see.  

Most thyroid patients won’t have been able to have regular thyroid function tests (TFTs) over the last few months and some of you been in touch to ask whether missing blood tests will have an impact. Fortunately for most of us, a delay in having our regular blood tests shouldn’t cause any major harm. Our advisor tells us ‘If you have been on the same dose of levothyroxine for a while; if you have had a thyroid blood test in the past while on the same dose which was fine, and if you have continued to take the tablets regularly without forgetting/missing doses, then it is highly unlikely that the dose needs changing.’ 

However, GPs are still available for non-Covid-19 related problems and if there is a good enough reason blood tests can be performed. If you feel there is a real clinical need, for example, if you feel very over- or undermedicated, during pregnancy, or as part of follow up checks if you have recently had thyroid surgery, you should make contact with your GP about getting a blood test.  

If your surgery has stopped all routine testing and this is having an impact on your health, we suggest you could contact the Endocrine Nurse Specialist which many local hospitals will have. They may be able to suggest alternative places to get your bloods measured in your area.   

We know sometimes patients resort to private blood testing if they are experiencing difficulties obtaining blood tests. Please be aware that NHS doctors will not always accept the results of these tests due to issues with reliability, so we advise you to check beforehand.  

 

 

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