Demands to improve the failing blood test system in Newham reported in Newham Voices last month have prompted urgent action from Borough health chiefs.

In a victory for community action NHS leaders have agreed to open a new test centre at the Westfield shopping complex in Stratford.

This will ease pressure on the existing four centres after complaints that a new online appointment system to replace the former walk-in blood tests had dramatically increased waiting times and caused confusion.

The new system also raised fears that delays in providing tests could mean some people – particularly elderly and vulnerable groups – are missing out on urgent and vital health support.

More than 300,000 people a year need blood tests in Newham and in the wake of the Covid crisis a new appointment service was introduced with people forced to book online after receiving a paper order from their GP.

But following the Newham Voices story and detailed complaints from users that they have had to wait ten days or more be seen, the East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) which runs existing testing at the Appleby Health Centre in Canning Town, the Shrewsbury Road Health Centre in East Ham, The Centre in Manor Park, and Vicarage Lane Health Centre in Stratford have carried out an urgent review.

The decision to create a fifth option for people using part of the Westfield Vaccination centre will make hundreds of slots available and reduce the wait to get a booking.

Special signs and a separate entrance and pathway will be set up in the building and the centre should be open by the middle of April.

The blood testing – or phlebotomy – service is a vital part of the health monitoring and diagnosis process needed by doctors and although the new system may be confusing for some people health leaders are acting to ease the pressure on existing sites and they are reassuring patients that doctors can still fast-track urgent appointments.

The shift to paperless organisation of blood tests through the Swiftqueue digital online booking system became more urgent during the Covid crisis which saw the blood test service struggling to cope as social-distancing measures forced patients to queue in the streets around the clinics.

Many people have found the online system difficult to use – particularly people aged over 60 and 70. Some patients used to getting same-day or next-day tests by queueing up at a local clinic now have to wait days – even weeks – before their appointment.

“I was shocked to find that the booking system online offered me a blood test almost three weeks away,” said one user at the Vicarage Lane Clinic in Stratford.

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