Why have I not been offered a retest for folate after my sample failed?

Folate has a higher-than-normal failure rate on finger-prick samples. For the best chance of success, we recommend taking a venous sample for any tests that include this bio-marker (we provide options to do this either in a clinic or with a nurse home visit).

 

In the feedback, many of you were disappointed that folate had been removed from the Advanced Thyroid Function Test. We did this because folate has a higher-than-normal failure rate on finger-prick samples – meaning many customers don’t get the results that they want and have to repeat the test, many of which still fail. As a compromise, for this test only, we are reintroducing the option of the finger-prick collection because this is what our customers have asked for.

 

Regretfully, we won’t be able to offer repeat tests for failed folate samples, because the cost and resources required to do this are simply too high given the failure rate. If you opt to take your sample via finger-prick instead of venous (which we recommend) and your folate sample fails then we will refund £8 to your payment card.