On Thu, 5 May 2016 20:45:28 +0100, Andrew wrote:

doctors have more important things to do than take bloods. That's
what phlebotomists (bleeders) are for,

Quite I'd much rather have bloods taken by someone who is doing it
many times a day than some one who only does it occasionally. The
Practice Nurse takes bloods at our GP's, prefereably in the morning
so they leave on the transport around midday to reach the lab that
day.

If we had to be referred to a hospital with a lab, that would be a 50
to 70 mile round and 3 hours or so depending on the which hospital
and assuming use of own transport. Public transport would take most
of the day *and* require the appointment to be late morning/early
afternoon.

--
Cheers
Dave.