GP Online Services Explainer

Blood Test Results in Patient Access

What value, range and comment mean, how to save a copy of your results, and how to get a plain English explanation of every marker.

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This page describes how GP online services apps such as Patient Access typically display blood test results, in general terms. It is not produced by, endorsed by, or affiliated with EMIS Health, Patient Access or any GP practice, and screens vary between practices and between app versions.

Last reviewed: 26 September 2026 · First published: 26 September 2026 · Reviewed against the sources listed at the end of this page.

The Quick Answer

Patient Access and similar GP online services apps let you view results your practice has uploaded to your record, but they are built for record access, not for explaining what a result means. You will usually see a test name, a value, a reference range, and sometimes a short comment. Working out whether a number matters, and what commonly causes it to move, is left to you and your GP.

If you want to keep a copy, look for a built-in download or export option on the results screen first. If there is not one, your browser's own Print function can save the page as a PDF. Upload that PDF, or a clear photo of a printed page, to SmarterBlood and every marker is extracted automatically, explained in plain English, and added to a graph you can watch over time, free of charge.

What Patient Access Is, and What It Is Not

Patient Access is one of several GP online services apps used across England, built by EMIS Health for practices that run the EMIS Web clinical system. It gives patients a window into part of their GP record: things like appointment booking, repeat prescriptions, and, when a practice has switched the feature on, test results filed by the practice.

It is a viewer for your practice's own clinical system, not a health analysis tool. It shows what was entered, in roughly the layout a clinician sees on screen, and leaves the interpretation to you and your GP. Different GP practices in the UK use different clinical systems and different patient-facing apps, and each practice separately decides how much detail patients are shown, so what you see may not match what a friend at a different practice sees, even for the same test.

Making Sense of What Is On Screen

The exact layout differs between apps and between updates, but most results screens are built from the same handful of fields.

Test name

The name of the specific measurement, for example Haemoglobin, Sodium, or Thyroid stimulating hormone. Results are usually grouped under a panel name such as Full blood count or Renal profile, which is the name of the whole blood draw rather than a single marker.

Tip: If a name looks unfamiliar, search it by its exact wording. Abbreviations vary between labs, so eGFR, GFR and Glomerular filtration rate estimated can all refer to the same test.

Value

The number (or occasionally a word like Negative or Detected) that your sample produced for that test, along with its unit of measurement such as mmol/L, g/L or 10^9/L.

Tip: Always read the value together with its unit. The same number can mean something completely different in two different units for the same marker.

Reference range (or normal range)

The interval that most healthy adults fall within for that particular test, as defined by the laboratory that processed your sample.

Tip: Ranges can differ slightly between laboratories and even between machines at the same laboratory. A result just outside one lab’s range might sit inside another lab’s range for the identical marker.

Flag or highlight

Many apps mark a result in bold, in a different colour, or with a symbol such as an asterisk or an arrow when it falls outside the attached reference range.

Tip: A flag means outside the statistical range, not automatically abnormal for you personally. Some people run consistently slightly outside a population range and are entirely well.

Comment

Free text added by the laboratory or a clinician at your practice. It might say the sample was haemolysed, that a result was repeated, that no action is needed, or ask you to book an appointment.

Tip: Read any comment carefully; it sometimes carries more useful information than the number itself, including next steps your practice wants you to take.

Date filed or sample date

The date your blood was drawn, or occasionally the date the result was released to your online record, which can be a few days later.

Tip: When comparing two results, always check you are comparing the sample date, not the date each one appeared on screen, since release timing can vary.

A flag is a statistical marker, not a diagnosis. Reference ranges are set so that a small proportion of genuinely healthy people will always fall outside them. Never act on a flagged result alone; always discuss it with your GP, who can weigh it against your history and symptoms.

How to Save a Copy of Your Results

Whether GP online services apps offer a direct download button varies, and the option can change between app updates. This works regardless of what your particular app offers.

Open the specific result you want to keep

Navigate to the test results section of the app on a computer or phone browser and open the page showing the values you want, ideally with as many markers visible on one screen as possible.

Look for a built-in export, download or print option

Some GP online services apps include a button for this on the results screen itself. Practices can enable or disable this feature, so it will not be present in every account, and its exact wording varies between apps and updates.

If there is no export option, use your browser’s own Print function

Every modern browser, on desktop and mobile, can print any web page. Open the browser menu and choose Print, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+P on Windows or Cmd+P on a Mac.

Choose Save as PDF as the destination

In the print dialog, the destination or printer dropdown usually includes an option called Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF. Selecting it creates a PDF file on your device instead of sending anything to a physical printer.

Save the file somewhere you can find it again

Give the file a clear name including the date, and save it to your downloads folder, phone photos or files app, or a cloud drive, so you can attach it later.

Upload the PDF to SmarterBlood

Go to the SmarterBlood upload page and add the PDF (or a clear photo of a printed copy). The system reads every marker automatically and adds it to your personal results graph within a few minutes.

What GP Online Services Apps Do Not Show You

Knowing the boundaries of what you are looking at helps you decide when to look further, or when to bring your own copy to an appointment.

Only your GP practice’s own results are shown

GP online services apps display results filed at your registered practice. Blood tests ordered in hospital, by a private clinic, or at a different GP practice you were previously registered with typically will not appear, even though they are part of your overall health history.

Practices control the level of detail released

Under UK GP online access arrangements, each practice decides what level of coded record detail is switched on for patients, and some categories of information can be held back for clinical review before release. This means two patients at different practices can see quite different amounts of detail for a similar test.

There is usually no plain-English explanation

These apps are a window into the clinical record system your GP uses, not a patient education tool. A value, a range and sometimes a short comment are typically all that appear; the app itself will not tell you what a marker measures or what commonly causes it to move.

No easy way to see change over time across several tests

Most apps let you view one test at a time, sometimes with a small graph. Comparing several markers together over months or years, or spotting a slow trend before it becomes a flagged result, is difficult in an interface built primarily for single lookups.

When to Contact Your GP Practice

Most results appearing in a patient-facing app without an urgent comment attached can reasonably wait for your next routine contact with the practice. Some situations are worth a call sooner:

A comment on the result explicitly asks you to book an appointment or contact the practice.
A value is marked as significantly outside its reference range, not just marginally over or under the line.
You have new or worsening symptoms alongside the result, such as unusual tiredness, pain, breathlessness or unexplained weight change.
A result you were told would be checked, such as a repeat test after treatment, has not appeared within the timeframe your GP gave you.

If you feel seriously unwell right now, do not wait for an online result; contact your GP practice, NHS 111, or emergency services as appropriate for your symptoms.

Turning a Results Screen Into Something You Can Actually Read

SmarterBlood is a free, independent tool that takes the same PDF or photo you saved from your GP online services app and does the interpretation work that app does not attempt. Upload a report, or email it to mail@smarterblood.org, and the AI extracts every marker automatically.

Each marker gets a plain English explanation of what it measures and what commonly moves it, out-of-range values are flagged clearly, and results from different labs or practices are plotted together on one graph so you can watch trends across your whole history rather than one screen at a time. You can also generate a printable summary to bring to your next GP appointment. SmarterBlood does not order tests, replace your GP practice, or connect directly to any GP clinical system; you choose what to upload.

Sources and reference ranges

Adult reference ranges on this page follow the AACB and RCPA harmonised reference intervals unless stated otherwise; the range printed on your own report always takes precedence because laboratories differ.

Patient Access Blood Test Results, Frequently Asked Questions

Why can I see my blood test results in Patient Access but not understand them?

GP online services apps are built to display your medical record, not to explain it. You typically see the test name, a value, a unit, a reference range, and sometimes a short comment from the lab or your practice. There is rarely any explanation of what a marker actually measures, why it might be high or low, or whether a result needs urgent attention. That interpretation gap is exactly what SmarterBlood is for.

Why does my result look like a number with no explanation next to it?

Most GP online services apps pull results directly from the practice clinical system and display them as raw entries, similar to how your GP sees them on screen. Some results carry a short comment written by the laboratory or the practice, but most do not. Bold, a red flag, or an asterisk next to a value usually just means it fell outside the reference range attached to that specific test, not that something is necessarily wrong.

Can I download my blood test results as a PDF from a GP online services app?

This depends on the app and how your practice has configured it. Some offer an export or print option on the results screen. If you cannot find one, every desktop and mobile browser has a built in Print function, and choosing Save as PDF (or a similar destination) from the print dialog creates a PDF file of the results page without needing any extra software.

Why can I only see some of my results, not all of them?

GP practices in the UK control what level of detail is released to patients online, and this varies by practice. Some release every coded result the moment it is filed, others hold sensitive categories back for a clinician to review first, and some release only a subset of markers. If a result you expected is missing, the most reliable path is to ask your practice reception or use the message function in the app.

What do value, range and comment actually mean on my result?

Value is the number your blood produced for that specific test. Range (sometimes shown as reference range or normal range) is the interval most healthy adults fall within for that laboratory, and it can differ slightly between labs and even between machines. Comment is free text a clinician or the laboratory has added, which might flag a result for review, note that a sample was repeated, or simply confirm the result is unremarkable.

Is a result outside the range always something to worry about?

No. Reference ranges are built from a large group of healthy people, so a small percentage of genuinely healthy people will always fall just outside them by definition. Being marginally outside the range is common and often not clinically significant, while being well outside it is more likely to need follow up. Your GP interprets the number in the context of your symptoms, your history and any previous results, which a single number on a screen cannot show.

Can I track my results over time in a GP online services app?

Most of these apps show a list or a simple graph for one test at a time, and only for results filed at that practice. If you have moved GP practices, been treated in hospital, or had private testing, those results usually live in a different system and will not appear alongside your GP record. SmarterBlood brings results from any source together on one graph so you can see the trend regardless of which lab or practice produced each report.

Is SmarterBlood affiliated with EMIS, Patient Access or my GP practice?

No. SmarterBlood is an independent service and has no affiliation with EMIS Health, Patient Access, your GP practice, or any GP clinical system provider. You export or photograph your own results and choose to upload them to SmarterBlood; nothing is pulled automatically from your GP record.