Leading medics have raised concerns about the growing use of unregulated, over-the-counter blood tests which promise to help users to "take control of their health and spot problems early". The tests, which can cost up to £800, are being sold as a product which can "predict how many healthy years a person has left", spot genetic abnormalities or screen for a range of conditions.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said that the increasing use of the tests was a "real concern for GPs" and can cause "real worry and anxiety" for patients. It comes after the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published an investigation which concluded that the market for unregulated private blood tests is "booming". Yet the journal suggested that some of the claims made by companies selling the tests are "misleading" and could be putting unnecessary burden on over-stretched GPs.
Dr Preeti Shukla, GP committee clinical and prescribing lead for the BMA, said: "The rise of private companies offering over the counter, unregulated blood tests that make dubious claims about what they can identify, is a real concern for GPs and their NHS colleagues, who are the ones who are often left to interpret results and reassure their patients.
"The UK National Screening Committee (UKSNC) makes clear recommendations around screening in this country - and those tests that are safe and clinically necessary. While people are free to choose to access private healthcare and treatment, those companies offering services not approved by the UKNSC or offered by the NHS need to ensure they can provide follow-up care, rather than pushing it back to NHS general practice at a time when family doctors and their colleagues are already under unsustainable workload pressure trying to meet the needs of patients who need them most.
"Providing people with test results with no context or explanation, nor with any follow-up arrangements, can cause unnecessary worry and anxiety, and it puts GPs in an incredibly difficult position if they are asked to interpret and explain results of tests that they have not initiated, and make decisions based on them.
"It should not be the NHS's job to clear up the mess left from ill-thought-through profit-making schemes like this. Of course, we would continue to encourage anyone with worrying symptoms or health concerns to approach their GP practice, as well as make use of approved and regulated testing and screening programmes available through the NHS when they are eligible and invited."
A spokesperson for the NHS in England said: "At a time when GP-led teams are delivering tens of millions of appointments every month, additional pressure should not be put on their workload from potentially misleading information. People should use trusted sources of information, such as the NHS website, and when feeling unwell, coming forward to contact the NHS for expert advice as they usually would."
