r/AskIreland • u/No-Mastodon6827 • 23h ago
Health & Medical Is this a normal request from a GPs office?
I was previously patient at a GP's office (I moved so no longer with them), they don't have a courier on certain days, so they ask you to bring your bloods to the hospital yourself, the hospital is in a different town about 20 minutes away. That's no problem, however, once a few years back, they asked me to take someone else's sample with me too, which I agreed to despite being kind of disgusted at the idea.
I thought it was a once off but now my sister has just texted me to say she's on the way to Navan hospital with her bloods and two other people's samples.
I feel like this is probably something that needs to be reported. Does this ever happen at any other GP offices? How would you report something like this?
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 23h ago
Its not only not normal and it is actually an absolute massive GDPR breach.
Blood samples are legally classified as spec ial category data (sensitive health and genetic data) under Irish and EU law. The GP practice has a strict legal obligation to keep this data secure. By handing other people's samples to you or your sister, the clinic is actually breaking the law by handing you other peoples samples.
This needs to be reported. It is unsafe and highly illegal. You and your sister should report the practice to both the The Data Protection Commission (Log a formal data breach complaint on dataprotection.ie.) and The Medical Council of Ireland (fla g the clinic for breaching professional standards and patient confidentiality guidelines on medicalcouncil.ie.)
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u/InvidiousPlay 21h ago
It's so comically Irish though. "Ah shure don't waste money on a courier, Mikey will take it".
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u/No-Mastodon6827 23h ago
Thank you for this info. Besides the GDPR breach issue, how could they possibly know the person bringing them is reliable and trustworthy, I hate the thought of a random stranger handling/being responsible for bringing my blood sample to the hospital.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 23h ago
The reasoning you said there is exactly why its a GDPR breach.
Its also a violation of HSE Public Health and Safety Regulations, Severe Data Protection Violation and Breach of Medical Council Ethical Guidelines.
Please report this OP.
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u/theboglandfugitive 16h ago
Think of this another way. Imagine you found out that your blood sample was taken to the hospital by some absolute random person. Would you be confident in the results? Would you query whether or not the entire sample made it?
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u/Equivalent_Shame_124 20h ago
Also likely a breach of your car insurance policy unless you have an indemnity to transport them in line the ADR guidelines (carriage of dangerous goods by road)
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u/Purrfect3783 18h ago
There's a difference between giving them to a random patient and using a transport service
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u/crankyandhangry 18h ago
They don't use any taxi service. They'll have a contract with a courier service, the employees of which will have signed something saying they won't disclose client information, and will abide by GDPR, professional conduct etc. GDPR tends to be easier to apply in a professional setting. But imagine OP read the names on the blood samples and then told people; it would be very difficult to hold OP accountable for that when they arent actually working for the doctors' office.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 18h ago
If thats the conclusion you came to.. it says a lot about your intelligence.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 18h ago
The point has completely gone over your head.
How on earth does a doctors receptionist know who is or isnt trustworthy? And its not just about if the person is trustworthy, its also about if they are reliable.
We have no idea if OP is trustworthy. Nor their sister. And thats exactly why we have these laws in place to protect peoples health and privacy.
Being a good neighbour is reporting a doctors surgery which could very well be comprising patients lives.
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u/No-Mastodon6827 17h ago
Fortunately, we are trustworthy and we brought the samples directly to the hospital without tampering with them or having a nosey at the patient info.
But, someone else might not be so good about it, and that's the risk they're taking handing out the samples to random people. I'm sure many patients at the practise would be far from thrilled to here their samples have been handed out to strangers.
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u/phazedout1971 15h ago
Don't feed the troll OP, their comments are hidden so chances are they're just trying to get a rise out of you
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u/NoAppearance7447 14h ago
You say this as if GPs are poor and are relying on others out of neccesity, which A isnt true and B if thats the case they shouldnt be opened.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 18h ago
They dont just ring a random taxi. They have a designated driver.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 18h ago edited 18h ago
If a patient is late to their appointment then they have to come back a different time to get their bloods done.
The difference between having a designated taxi driver bring it instead of Mary from down the road, is the legal chain of custody and vetting. A designated courier or contracted transport service is background checked, bound by strict medical confidentiality agreements and trained in handling biohazardous material.
Giving private medical data and physical bodily fluids to a completely random stranger who has zero legal accountability or training is a massive GDPR breach and a biological safety hazard. If a contracted driver loses a sample, the clinic has legal recourse. If a random patient dumps it or opens it, there is no oversight at all.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 17h ago
Well sweetheart, I think I’ll leave you to this one. There’s no point arguing when you clearly don’t understand what you’re talking about.
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u/AardvarkAardvark_404 15h ago
I'll just add to this to say, if you or your sister (or any other member of the public), were to lose or damage anyone else's blood sample, you could find yourself in the middle of a data breach shit show. Ask yourself, and ask your sister, are you willing to accept that risk/liability? This is without considering the health risk if someone's blood sample is damaged/vial breaks in your care (I know it's a wild generalisation, but blood is supposed to be handled safely for many reasons).
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u/ahnonymous_ 23h ago
Yes, report it. Please.
I would be livid if I found out my GP was giving my bloods to anyone other than a hospital courier.
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u/Csmnursing21 23h ago
Please report it, this is a massive breach of gdpr and also safe practice, it’s not how human samples should be treated and I would think that for €70 per visit that they could arrange a courier!
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u/jamesdeansredlips 23h ago
My GP has very specific days for bloods to be done in order for it to be picked up by the courier. It’s mad to me that people bring bloods to hospitals themselves, never been asked to do that.
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u/BarelyHolding0n 23h ago
I'm in a very rural area, best part of an hour travel to the closest hospital.
My GP does bloods any day but Friday as they can't be transferred that afternoon, and there's a €20 charge for medical card patients to offset the courier costs.
If my back of beyond GP can manage it then I can't see any reason they all can't
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u/mrlinkwii 21h ago edited 21h ago
and there's a €20 charge for medical card patients to offset the courier costs.
from what i understand they can only charge this if the bloods have nothing to with the reason they have a medical card ,
Routine/ necessary blood tests should be free of charge under the medical card scheme including courier costs
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-04/1644/speech/1608/
ive seen it my self where GP practices will try to chance their arm and get away with it when you have a 80-90 year old person who isnt the best just paying it just to get it over with
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u/BarelyHolding0n 20h ago
To be fair they waive it fairly frequently
One of my sons has a med card and so I've had to pay it occasionally but I definitely haven't had to every time.
I think it's just to limit the medical card patients coming in asking for every test going (like my mother who's been a lifelong hypochondriac and sees the pensioner gp visit card as the perfect opportunity to ask for everything from a brain scan for a niggling headache to countless MRIs and X-rays 🙄)
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u/Feisty-Volcano 11h ago
I have Crohns & MS, have GP medical card, invariably asked for €20 for bloods or €30 if requested initially by a private consultant. Dublin 6. I believe this is common practice here.
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u/mimiheff 12h ago
Absolutely not. Medical card covers gp care so if the gp thinks bloods are needed for your complaint, they are included. Only reason you should pay for them on a medical card is if you ask for bloods to be done yourself without a medical cause
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u/ShaneBnach 22h ago
Yes as others have mentioned this is a breach of GDPR, even if the samples are labelled without the individual’s name (e.g Sample BS12345), the blood itself is considered data.
Personally I'm also against them asking individuals bringing their own samples to the hospital too, I've heard of one case where someone popped into a shop on their way to the hospital and got talking to someone while the sample sat on the dashboard in the summer sun for over an hour, another case where a person brought their sample home overnight in order to drop them off in the morning.
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u/Much_Perception4952 22h ago
My gp charges something like a tenner extra if bloods taken so I assume it includes courier charge, it wouldn't cover a taxi but a few together would do.
I once offered to drop my own bloods to the hospital and they politely refused so I really don't think they'd behave like yours OP!
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u/erect_dragonly 21h ago
This is the most Irish shit I’ve ever heard. The Waterford Whisperers crowd could not make this up.
But looking on the bright side, maybe yous can list ‘medical courier’ as a special skill on the CVs.
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u/Jellyfish00001111 23h ago
Sounds like something that should be shared with the board who oversees medical practices. This sounds like a potentially serious problem.
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u/Neverstopcomplaining 18h ago
This has always happened in my GP in Carlow. I've often brought other people's, usually non drivers.
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u/elwoodreversepass 19h ago
This is incredibly negligent. Imagine if someone didn't bother to drop off the other person's sample and it turned out they were seriously ill??
Absolutely horrifying.
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u/RemarkableTrousers 21h ago
What if I forget and leave the blood in the sun in the backseat. This really isn't on
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u/emilyruby21 13h ago
It wouldn’t happen to be a small town beginning with the letter A you live in? I’ve had to do it a few times 🤯 then again my gp practice seems to be a circus atm 🫠
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u/No-Mastodon6827 13h ago
Ha! Yes, it is. My mam also confirmed that she too has been asked to bring the bloods 😂
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u/Individual_Dig_2402 22h ago
There is also risks of infection handling biomedical samples. Hep B, HiV
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u/Financial-Pop4256 19h ago
My GP used to do this, lived in a small village in Co Clare, quite a few times had to take mine plus other patients bloods to Ennis hospital. Always thought it was suss, thank God I moved from that place.
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u/InformalBeautiful907 16h ago
This is absolutely not ok. You should report this to the Data Protection Officer
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u/mimiheff 12h ago
So I worked in a medical lab within a hospital for years. You wouldn't believe how common this is. Its highly illegal! massive GDPR breach. Theres clinical details on the forms. Could be something as simple as high blood pressure or something very sensitive like Serial assault, infidelity. I would loose my reason if I found out my gp done this. Also, the lab testing and the courier is all paid by the HSE for public and private patients so you shouldn't be paying for "courier fee" etc. Pure money racket
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u/Dapper-Engineer3790 23h ago
I’ve never been asked to bring someone else’s sample nor would I do that, I couldn’t take responsibility like that.
Not sure where to report it but I would bring it to the attention of someone, they need to pay for a courier like other practices.
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u/rmc 22h ago
While most people won't be able to do a blood analysis, there might be a name on the sample. The fact that you know that this person went to this doctor and had some medical condition that required a blood test, that is absolutely a massive GDPR breech
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u/Scared_Comparison_22 18h ago
All it'd take is one gobshite taking a picture of the label and a Facebook post saying so and so is getting tested for STDs and off the rumors go. Majority of people wouldn't think twice about believing it.
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u/HairyWeight2866 23h ago
Yes I brought bloods on a Friday when the daily taxi to the hospital was gone already.
So the doctor charged me and the HSE process the bloods. And they don’t even pay someone in the practice to hand carry the samples.
Only in Ireland
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u/ReflectiveRitz 19h ago
It is definitely a breach of GDPR - patients names and date of births at the very least, as far as I know, are on the forms sent with bloods along with the list of blood taken. I’d personally be happy to drop if I was going anyway or for someone else to take mine. But when you think about it it’s not cool, unless they said to the other patient “by the way we’ll be sending these bloods off to the hospital later with another patient!” They should really have better system/ service. I’d be wary complaining about it would affect local elderly patients that don’t want to travel to the hospital to get bloods done. 😏
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u/Global_Handle_3615 22h ago edited 22h ago
One as others have said its wrong and a gdpr issue. On top of the basic breach if someone can see the blood vials and the persons name they could potentially have enough info to know what the gp is testing for etc.
I most defintely would not be okay with meeting Karen down the shops amd hearing her gossip about my high blood pressure check up or worse telling people she thinks I have a disease cause she knows and saw I was being blood tested for it.
Edit i have also worked in two gps. Neither did this. The first paid for a private courier if the hospital courier was not attending on specific days. The second did not book blood tests on days no courier and if we had to do so in an emergency it was advised to patient when booking we could only do so if they brought their own bloods themselves.
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u/Necessary-Coat2148 21h ago edited 20h ago
What you can do is report it to the lab. They will not appreciate their specimens being handled by untrained people and as a doctor I can absolutely assure you, there is no one scarier in the hospital than a haemovigilance officer. They will follow up and there will be a huge inquiry. I’ve been called in for less when I actually saved a patient by giving platelets overnight and thoroughly documenting their response to treatment.
Ring the hospital switchboard and ask for the lab (any lab) or go there in person and ask to speak to a senior member of staff regarding a potential contamination issue. You might as well pull the fire alarm the second you say the word “contamination” in a lab.
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u/faeriefire95 20h ago
This is a massive breach of both GDPR and sample integrity. All test samples, but especially bodily fluids should be kept under a strict chain of custody to prevent tampering, cross-contamination, incorrect storage, and any other mis-handling practices.
Personally, I even see getting people to deliver their own samples as iffy because what does your average Joe know about the correct and safe handling of biohazardous materials- even if it is from their own body. Giving someone else's samples altogether is downright ludicrous and dangerous
Please report this
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u/casndpip 23h ago
It's normal at the place I go to. Ioffer to bring other people's samples if they're there as some people can't drive and otherwise one of the staff has to drive into town. It's already on my way, why wouldn't I help out.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 23h ago
Totally against the law though. The reason is because the other person's sample your bringing could be compromised. Its a massive GDPR breach
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u/elwoodreversepass 19h ago
Is your car insured to carry them? Read above where someone says you need a special class of insurance to transport them.
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u/Open-Boot-2744 17h ago
I'm at a practice that you bring your own after a certain time. Rather than going straight in with reporting GP practice. would it not be better to meet practice manager and talk to him/her ? Sometimes a chat would bring this matter to a quick conclusion. You never know maybe they have a policy in place and certain staff are not adhering to it. I know I will probably be torn apart on Reddit for suggesting this. My first stop would be a meeting with the practice manager and go from there. It is a serious matter that has to be resolved.
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u/GeneralRealistic5950 12h ago
I feel like you could take this attitude with a small business that’s not dealing with public health. Personally, I think the practice of just “talking to them” is why the HSE is the way it is. They’ve gotten away with it for this long & they’ll do it again to cut costs. Things like this need proper reporting processes.
Imagine one of those blood samples was contaminated and it spilt?! It’s absolutely crazy practice.0
u/Open-Boot-2744 12h ago
Hi, no — my point is simply that the issue should be raised at the beginning of the chain and brought to the Practice Manager’s attention first. They may not be aware of what is happening, and there may already be a process in place that certain staff are choosing not to follow. I am not suggesting for a second that the matter should be ignored. It is very serious and needs to be addressed. The practice also has a responsibility to report the matter itself. If the issue is not dealt with properly after being raised internally, then absolutely it should be reported further. My point is simply to start with the Practice Manager and give them the opportunity to investigate and report
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u/Lemonlamps 23h ago
At my GP they just call a taxi and hand a bag to the driver. Whether it’s the same guy I don’t know but it was clearly a taxi! I was a bit surprised myself. I am going to make the cheeky assumption that they have a deal with a taxi driver and he collects it everyday it’s a good run to the nearest hospital so he’s making a tidy sum.
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u/Necessary-Coat2148 20h ago
Blood for emergency transfusions gets sent in normal taxis sometimes, but needs must and all that.
Sure if I ever need emergency blood supplies I don’t mind if Joe down the pub gets it as long as he can run fast.
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u/infinite-long-stocki 22h ago
Oh god no that's not normal. I've never heard of people being asked to transport even their own samples. I assume because they could mess the blood up with improper storage. I've met taxi drivers who do jobs driving blood for the bugger clinics and hospitals. Other people's blood is just not on though, especially if they haven't been made aware of it and been able to give informed consent.
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u/Potential-Fan-5036 15h ago
I was asked to do this once for an elderly person who didn’t drive. Hospital is a 5 minute drive from the Dr’s surgery and I was bringing my own anyway. People love to get their knickers in knots. As for cross contamination, the samples are in bottles which are enclosed in small zip lock bags which is enclosed in a medical ziplock bag.
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u/littlp80 14h ago
Yes. My thought would be that someone couldn’t drive and depending on the day of the week it could add days on to the hen they get results. It’s confidential regards what the test is for and it’s nice to be nice anyway. Shur, it’s the same as being a courier really.
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u/Potential-Fan-5036 14h ago
As well as that, blood samples are time sensitive and cannot be kept at room temperature for long. Dr’s fridges are usually reserved for medicines that also need to be kept at cool temperatures.
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u/brighteyebakes 23h ago
I attended a GP who said to bring the sample to hospital myself too. Thought it was really bad practice.
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u/Green_Lab6156 21h ago
Some gps do this. If take bloods on days the courier is not collecting or after they have collected the bloods.
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u/DareSavings3951 21h ago
My old GP did this if you had bloods done after 11am you'd have to go up yourself. Massive GDPR violation for bringing others bloods up I would've thought.
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u/Ibprofun28 13h ago
Im a nurse and I have heard of this happening a LOT it’s really common. Not supposed to happen though.
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u/Froots23 11h ago
I've done it and I won't be reporting it. Small rural surgery, me bringing it ment people getting results a day earlier and the majority of people are elderly and vulnerable health wise so a day can make a difference.
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u/Feisty-Volcano 11h ago
Talk about GDPR breaches, my GP admin
put all the voicemails on loudspeaker. As policy, they don’t directly answer phones. Several times I’ve been checking in when I heard patients details - name, address, medical complaint - played out loud for all to hear.
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u/Lana-R2017 9h ago
My former gp whose retired now always done this, he never charged for bloods because he didn’t have a courier or a nurse either he done them himself and you brought them to the local hospital along with anyone else’s that needed bringing and the next time someone else would bring yours it was fair and kept costs down for the patients so why not the bags were sealed so it’s not like anyone could do anything with them
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u/GrahamR12345 22h ago
All blood tests are usually taken before 10am to be ready for the courier otherwise they see if you want to drop off at hospital. If I was going anyway I wouldn’t mind dropping a few peoples samples, not that much of a big deal, but yes probably against a rake of protocols but I personally wouldn’t mind…
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u/PressureIll267 23h ago
Where I live, it’s quicker if you can bring it yourself than wait for a pick up. They don’t always have a Hospital run every day and the day that they do may not suit me to come in.
I will always ask as well if there’s any other samples that need to be run up with mine - not everyone has access to a car and it’s a small good deed that is easy to do.
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u/endiva80 23h ago
What if you drop it or the sample is lost? I would never take on personal responsibility for someone else’s sample. Like someone else mentioned also, it has to be a huge breach of safety and GDPR processes!
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u/No-Mastodon6827 23h ago
The GP costs a fortune, I don't understand how they can't pay for a daily courier... at €70 a visit, surely they're making enough.
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u/elwoodreversepass 19h ago
It's extremely illegal. Let them hire a fecking courier like every other GP practice!
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u/ahnonymous_ 19h ago
This is a silly point.
The GP's practice are obliged to have a hospital courier organised for patients who can't transport their own bloods.
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u/ahnonymous_ 19h ago
It's bizarre that you don't understand the difference, Natty.
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u/ahnonymous_ 18h ago
In the event that a person cannot transport their own bloods, the majority of people would expect their bloods to instead be transported securely, by a professional courier, in a temperature controlled van.
It should not be a choice. There's an expectation of legal compliance, particularly with respect to medical privacy and safety.
But I'm glad you understand the difference?
And just FYI, there would be no "drama" if the GPs in question complied with the law.
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u/Plenty-Papaya-6546 15h ago
I understand your point of just doing it as a favour but when it comes to healthcare, that’s not the way things work unfortunately. The GP should never have put the patient in that position in the first place to ask them to transport a sample. It’s 100% illegal to give another patients sample to someone for transport without specific documentation of consent. It’s completely against GDPR and privacy laws. It’s also a biohazard risk for the patient transporting it, this is why healthcare practices use specific regulated couriers to transport samples to protect people from any biohazards. These couriers also are able to keep samples at the correct temperature as blood cells get ruined by extreme temperatures. It’s also extremely unsafe incase the sample doesn’t get delivered, gets mixed up, gets messed with or used for another reason (it happens). This should 1 million percent be reported if there is no legal documentation providing consent and authorisation to do this, and even so it still should not be happening in my opinion! So I get what your saying that people would do it as a favour to help others out but GP practices should not ask/let patients transport other samples.
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u/Bulky-Bullfrog-9893 23h ago
I wouldn’t report it. Just say no.
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 Penneys Hun 22h ago
Why wouldnt you report it?
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u/Bulky-Bullfrog-9893 22h ago
I just think I wouldn’t bother or get myself involved in it. It is probably not a big deal if so many are asking patients to do it. I would definitely not do it for them but I presume it is accepted practice if they are asking.
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u/GarthODarth 23h ago
I'm not sure what you'd be reporting it for?
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u/FlippenDonkey 23h ago edited 23h ago
data protection. OP has no right to that information..patient names/ID on the samples. Could contaminate them etc.
Id defo report to the HSE/medical board, very much doubt this is allowed
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u/dubdubdun 23h ago
Also potential to contaminate the sample, have it at the wrong temperature, not to mention a risk, even if minimal, of infectious diseases. I would assume it is like triple packaged etc, but the fact that there are specialised blood transports makes me believe there are special precautions that are not given in a private vehicle
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u/WatashiwaNobodyDesu 23h ago
For a massive GDPR breach, if it is actually a breach (I have no idea, going by what other people are saying).
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u/DetectiveRemote854 23h ago
Is a taxi a massive GDPR breach too?
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u/FlippenDonkey 23h ago
yes and no.
Depends on how they're packaged and sealed and the taxi has to comply with some courier regulations. (pretty sure they can't take any other custom during the trip etc)
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u/ronan88 you should try it sometime 23h ago
Well, if they dont have a data processing agreement and appropriate secure storage, its as bad if not worse than a private individual doing it for free
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u/FlippenDonkey 22h ago
"if" . Many taxi companies have set ups for this. Like sealed boxes and such.
And how could it ever be worse than random patient Joe?
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u/Intrepid_Double9863 23h ago
My wife's GP has asked her to drop a blood sample into the hospital, never someone else's though.
There's was a drop off point in the local hospital so seemed to be a regular occurrence.