Hospital bosses have pledged to improve blood services in Ipswich after claims that a two-tier service has developed between its two centres. The East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) which runs Ipswich and Colchester hospitals offers patients very different waiting times for blood tests on opposite sides of the River Stour. While appointments can usually be arranged in Colchester and Harwich within a day or two, people often have to wait two to three weeks for an appointment at Ipswich Hospital or the health centre in Landseer Road.
There can be long waits for blood tests at Ipswich Hospital. (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown) Now the trust is looking at arranging more tests - possibly with evening sessions - in an attempt to reduce waiting times. Ipswich businessman Mark Ling said he found there was a two to three week wait when he was asked to arrange a blood test in the town.
Mark Ling is frustrated by what he sees as a two-tier service for blood tests. (Image: Lucy Taylor) He said: "This is something that seems to have got worse in the last year or so - you used to be able to just turn up and they'd see you. "Now we have to just look at the website all the time to see if there's a cancellation - but if you look at the places at Colchester and Harwich you can book for later the same day or the next day.
"It feels as we have a two-tier system between Suffolk and Essex patients." Another patient said he needed to rearrange a blood test after a scan was delayed becau.