Test results

When Your Results Will Be Ready

Results can take from 2 working days to several weeks, depending on the test. Your clinician may tell you roughly how long to expect.

If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks of your test, or you are worried about a result, please contact us.

Seeing Your Results Online

The easiest way to see your test results, and any comments your doctor has added, is the NHS App. Download the app and confirm your identity in it using NHS login. You do not need to visit the surgery.

• Find out about the NHS App (NHS website)
• NHS App help and support (NHS website)

You can also use SystmOnline if you already have a login. For more about online services, see our Online Access page.

Results appear in the NHS App, SystmOnline and the Airmid app only after a doctor has reviewed them and filed them in your record. This means there may be a short delay before you can see them.

Results in Patients Know Best

Patients Know Best is an online health record used by the hospital. It may show you a result as soon as the hospital laboratory has processed it. This is often before the result has reached us, and before a GP has had a chance to review it.

The hospital runs this service, so we cannot change when results appear in it. If you see a result in Patients Know Best, please allow a few working days for it to reach us and be reviewed. We will contact you if it needs any action.

If you feel unwell while you are waiting, do not wait for your result. Contact us online or by phone. If we are closed, call NHS 111. In an emergency, call 999.

Asking About a Result

If you have a question about a result, or you cannot see it online, you can:

• use our online form and choose ‘I have an admin or routine care request’, or
• call us. It is best to call after 11.30am.

For your privacy, we can only give results to you, unless you have given us permission to share them with someone else.

Tests Requested by a Hospital Team or Specialist

If a hospital team or specialist asked for your test, such as a blood test or a scan, they are responsible for reviewing the result and telling you about it, along with any next steps in your care.

We do not usually receive copies of these results. If a hospital team asked for your blood test on their own form, the laboratory at St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester sends the result straight back to the consultant who requested it.

If you have not heard from your hospital team or specialist about a result, please contact their department directly, using the details on your appointment letter. Your hospital team is best placed to answer questions about these results, and we are not able to chase them for you.