A FUNDING dispute has led to the operator of two Devon GP surgeries withdrawing from conducting blood tests requested by hospitals.

Patients attending the surgeries in Holsworthy and Hatherleigh will, from April be required to go to hospital for any blood tests requested there.

Ruby Country Medical Practice says the funding offered for their Devon surgeries are unsustainable, with the dispute not affecting their surgery in Cornwall at Stratton.

A spokesperson for Ruby Country Medical Practice, said: “We want to inform you of an important change regarding our phlebotomy service at our Devon practices.

After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision not to sign up for the new Hospital Phlebotomy Locally Enhanced Service (LES). Unfortunately, the funding provided does not cover the actual costs required to run the service safely and effectively within our Devon practices.

As a practice, we must ensure long-term sustainability to continue delivering high-quality care to our patients. This is always our highest priority. We have expressed our concerns to both the NHS Devon ICB and the Hospital Trust, that we are keen to explore alternative solutions to prevent patients from having to travel to hospitals for blood tests. However, despite our willingness to work collaboratively on this issue, we have not yet received a response from them.

As a result, from April 1 we will no longer be able to process hospital-requested blood tests at our Holsworthy and Hatherleigh practices. Instead, all hospital blood test requests will need to be carried out by the hospital that requested them.

We appreciate that this change may be inconvenient, and we strongly encourage patients with ongoing hospital care to contact their hospital team to arrange their blood tests, as we are unable to facilitate on their behalf.

“Stratton Medical Centre remains unaffected by this and will continue as normal.”

NHS Devon has been contacted for comment.