These guidelines are from earlier this year, may be worth seeing what the latest advice is with the clinic and whether the tests can be spaced out better.
No, it does help, pixie. I'll suggest to Mrs A that she talks to her Warfarin Clinic about it. During the lockdown, they sent round a travelling phlebotomist to take her bloods at the front door, so the district nurse idea is worth pushing. Ta.
Thanks sqad, Peter; she tried rivaroxaban and got wobbly. She gets wobbly. Hocum (you'll both know the disease that is slang for), other things, fluid on one lung, etc., etc. Not well, although (like the Black Knight) you would never know it.
Anyway, rivaroxaban was tried, but made her more wobbly than usual, so reverted to Warfarin.
Gill, I am sorry for your loss, whether it was recent or long ago. Time doesn't heal, in spite of what 'they' say.
Our GP's surgery WILL do INR, but say (strongly) that it 'takes 10 days to get the result', and when Mrs A said 10 days was too long, as the dose-change was critical, the GP chimed in and said 'Nonsense, 10 days is quite adequate.'
Mrs A reported this to the Warfarin clinic, who said this was not unusual for GP surgeries...
Thanks, Allen. Over 3 years ago now but not easy sometimes especially alone over lockdown.
I thought it was tested at the surgery as the reading could vary a lot and he sometimes had it done quite frequently. Perhaps it is different in different areas of the country.
Hope she can sort something better soon.
calmck: yes, that's what Mrs A gets from the Warfarin Clinic at Northwick Park - she goes in the morning, they phone in the afternoon, and at worst she gets her yellow book back the next morning.
But our GP's gaff is 'self-funding', a hangover from Blair and his nonsense (not that the current lot would be any better). Hence, sending a blood-test to the local hospital costs the GP about £20, whereas sending it up the country (or even OUT of the country, who knows) is about £2. Money takes priority over quick results, of course.
Gill: see the last paragraph. Quite likely you have proper old-fashioned doctors, who see looking after patients as important.