London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

NHS blood test tube shortage set to worsen

NHS blood test tube shortage set to worsen

NHS England has admitted that a shortage of vials used for blood tests will worsen over the next few weeks and will last until mid-September.

It said supplies remain constrained and are forecast "to become even more constrained over the coming weeks".

While the NHS expects the position to improve by the middle of next month, "overall supply is likely to remain challenging for a significant period."

Doctors had been told to stagger some blood tests due to the shortage.

They are warning that patient care will suffer due to delays.

It comes after Becton Dickinson, a company that makes vials for the health service, said it is experiencing serious supply chain issues.

Due to the shortage, the NHS has temporarily stopped some blood testing for fertility, pre-diabetes, allergies and certain blood disorders.

NHS England issued guidance urging doctors to delay regular blood tests if clinically safe and NHS Wales issued similar guidance.

In its guidance, NHS England said "alternative products are being sought to alleviate these constraints," as a result of the global shortages of blood tube products.

Dr Farah Jameel, a GP based in north London and a representative from the British Medical Association trade body said she was having "difficult conversations" with patients about rationing the vials "among the very sickest".

Dr Jameel is having "incredibly challenging" conversations with patients about delayed blood tests

She said there has been "very unclear messaging from NHS England on how quickly we're going to run short and what the impact will be on patient care."

"The NHS needs to communicate clearly with the public and with the profession so there is a clear understanding of the problems which will help us manage expectations," Dr Jameel said.

"These tests are a fundamental part of patient care, giving us essential insights into different conditions, warning signs and overall health."

Preventative care


Doctor Gavin Jamie, an GP based in Swindon agreed that preventative care is going to be slower, in addition to screening delays cause by the pandemic which he said he's still trying to catch up on.

"We've not seen the full effect yet but it looks like it could carry on for at least a few months from the time scale NHS England have been giving us," he added.

GPs across the country have tweeted about the difficulties the shortage is causing, while patients have tweeted texts from their surgeries which have said their blood tests have been cancelled.

Alison Webb's blood tests have been delayed by four months due to the shortages

Alison Webb, from Wales, told the BBC she was told that she can't have her yearly thyroid and cholesterol checked due to the blood tube shortages. She has a condition which means the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones and said her blood tests are currently overdo by four months.

"Now I've been told to ring again in a month's time. Terrible," she said.

The medical device company, Becton Dickinson, which manufactures its tubes in the US, said the need to test Covid-19 patients in addition to routine testing for procedures which were delayed due to the pandemic had increased demand.


Responding to the new NHS guidance, the British Medical Associationsaid that healthcare staff were "still no closer to understanding how this situation was able to develop and why there wasn't a contingency plan".

"Today's guidance does not explain what will happen if hospitals or GP surgeries do run out of stock, and this must be addressed as a matter of urgency," said Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of BMA council.

"No doctor wants the consequence of delayed diagnosis for patients due to these shortages, and they also need to know they are protected from any possible negligence claims," he added.

Supply problems


Like many other industries, Becton Dickinson said in addition to increased demand, it was experiencing "continued transportation challenges", which included port and transport capacity, air freight capacity and UK border challenges.

"Suppliers are also challenged to meet increased demand for raw materials and components," the firm told the BBC.

"We are balancing the frequency of preventive maintenance leading to plant shutdown to provide continuing supply of products, and we are working closely with our raw material suppliers, transport agencies and other necessary third parties to minimize supply disruptions," a spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care told the BBC: "Patient safety and continuity of care is our priority and we are working to ensure there is minimal possible impact on patient care.

"The health and care system is working closely with Becton Dickinson to put mitigations in place to resolve any problems if they arise," they added.

Diabetes UK expressed concerns for the 13.6 million people in the country at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can develop more slowly than those for type 1.

Nikki Joule, policy manager at the charity, said the supply issues would make the condition "harder to spot" and said it's "very important" that those at risk "do not fall through the cracks due to a logistical issue."

Gwenda Burns, chief executive of Fertility Network UK agrees that the logistical issue is "extremely worrying" for those awaiting fertility tests.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
×