During your care at UCLH your clinician may order tests for you. We carry out thousands of different tests a year and know that waiting for results can be a difficult time. 

After they have received the results, clinicians will want to decide on the next treatment steps, if needed. This occasionally means that your results and history are presented to a larger clinical team to help design the best treatment for you. This may lengthen the time between your test and knowing the results.

We have set out some guidelines to help you understand how the process works and how long you might need to wait for the results, so you don't need to worry about getting in touch with us before your results are ready.

When it comes to test results, there are two types: the ones that are delivered automatically to MyCare after a set time and the ones that are delivered to MyCare after they have been seen by your clinician.

If your clinician sends you for tests, the time it takes for the results will vary and is dependent on several factors as shown below.

  • Type of tests done.
  • Number of tests done.
  • Not all test results will be back at the same time.
  • Some test results will be ready on the same day or a few days later, although some may not be available for a few weeks.
  • We aim to get most blood test results back to patients the next working day, typically before your clinician will have reviewed them. 
  • We aim to get reports from scans to patients around three weeks after the final report has been written by the radiologist.
  • Some results will need discussing with a bigger team before releasing them.

Your clinician may request several different tests during your appointment and wait for the results of all tests to be available before making decisions on the next steps. When the results arrive, and depending on the specialty that you were seen in, your results:

  • Will be discussed with you during your next appointment or over the phone,
  • May be shared with you in MyCare after they have been reviewed by your clinician, or 
  • May arrive automatically in MyCare before your clinician has seen them.

Your clinical team determines which types of test results can be viewed through MyCare. Tests of a very sensitive nature are not automatically available in MyCare.

If you have further questions regarding test results, or you have not received a result that you are expecting, please discuss them at your next visit or contact your clinical team.

Some biochemistry and microbiology test results and most blood tests are released to MyCare automatically 24 hours after they have been finalised by the labs. This means that in many cases you will likely see information before the clinicians caring for you have had an opportunity to discuss these results with you. 

Please allow time for clinical review of your latest test results. You should not make any changes to your treatment until you have discussed the results with the team. They will contact you before your next appointment if you need to make any changes urgently.

Certain microbiology, biochemistry and most imaging, nuclear medicine and cardiology results are released three weeks from the date the reports/results are finalised. The imaging test results are provided as written reports. 

Some tests are not released at all – these are usually very complicated tests that may need additional review by an expert doctor to avoid causing any confusion.

Once you have logged into MyCare, you can view your test results in one of two ways:

1. From the top menu

Navigate to the top menu and click on "Test Results" in the menu options.

My Results 1.png

2. From the side menu

Locate and click on the menu button (typically represented by three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the screen.

A side menu will appear.

Scroll down under "My Record.", find and click on "Test Results."

My Results 2.png

Viewing my test result

You can view your test results in MyCare when they become available. 

Choose a specific test to access more details, including:

  • The standard range for the result
  • Any additional comments provided by your clinician regarding the result

My Results 3.png

 You can access more information about the type of test you have completed online at: 

https://labtestsonline.org.uk/.