Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

At Blue Horizon Medicals, we strive to deliver a top class service, 100% of the time.  In order to facilitate this, we work very hard to make your pathology testing experience as good as we can from start to finish.  We have made our Terms and Conditions as fair as possible and these are outlined below. It is always wise to read the Terms and Conditions before making your purchase. 

 

THE SERVICE WE OFFER

When you purchase a testing kit from ourselves, you are purchasing our Doctor’s Private Referral to an accredited Laboratory for your sample to be analysed.  As part of this service, we also supply you with the necessary test kit for your chosen sample collection, postage of this kit to yourself and should  you select it, a prepaid return envelope and label to the Laboratory.  PLEASE BE AWARE that some tests/profiles need to be delivered to the Laboratory the next working day – if this is the case for your order, you will be financially responsible to upgrade to this service at your local Post Office.  By placing an order through ourselves, you are accepting what we can guarantee and also any factors that are beyond our control.

ROYAL MAIL TRACKED 24 RETURN SERVICE

Although Royal Mail try to deliver these envelopes back to the laboratory in 24 hours, sometimes they fall short of this target. Please be aware that this may affect results release as the laboratory can only process samples once they have received. The only way to absolutely guarantee on-time delivery back to the lab is to either take it yourself or arrange a same day courier at your own expense.

 

LABORATORY ACCREDITATION

The results that we provide you with, are guaranteed to be from an accredited Laboratory, with the exception of DNAblue genetic tests, Food Intolerance tests, and Microbiome tests, all of which are from research laboratories with robust quality control. 

Please be aware that a small degree of inaccuracy is accepted for all biological testing processes - no test is perfect. That said, all tests undertaken on behalf of Blue Horizon Medicals have a high degree of reliability, as well as sensitivity and specificity, and all testing processes are continually monitored at our partner laboratories in accordance with UKAS guidelines. Occasional errors are to be expected - from sampling difficulties, transport delay or test interference - wherever possible in these uncommon instances we shall identify the probable cause of the failure to produce a valid test result. No test results (or reference ranges) should be directly compared between two laboratories, even a sample that is split and sent to two different laboratories on the same day. The result and range are both unique for that laboratory only. While many substances in tested samples vary only slightly in concentration from day to day, this situation may change rapidly if disease is present. On the other hand, wide variability can also be seen - some levels (depending on the substance being tested) can vary considerably even on a daily basis.

 

KIT DISPATCH

We will dispatch all testing kits the same day that we receive a completed Laboratory Request attached to your order, providing it is received by 1pm for Microtainer Kits or 3pm for all other kits. This is applicable Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays.

 

CHANGE YOUR MIND

Should you change your mind and no longer require a test kit, provided we have not dispatched said kit, we will process a full refund for you.

 

RETURNS GUARANTEE

If we have dispatched your kit, you can return it (see return address below) within 14 days of the purchase date, for a full refund, providing the kit is unused/undamaged. If it is incomplete, used or damaged in any way, we will deduct an administration fee of £5. If you do decide to return your kit after the 14 days you will not receive a full monetary refund but we will provide a coupon code to use on our website for future purchases.

 

PHLEBOTOMY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

If you elect to use our nurse home visit service, the Circle Health hospital phlebotomy service, or the Superdrug Clinic service we will guarantee your money back, if the nurse or support staff do not manage to successfully collect a sample. We can however only offer this money back phlebotomy guarantee once per patient to make the guarantee fair for all.

 

FINGER-PRICK TRY AGAIN GUARANTEE

If you are not successful in obtaining a viable finger prick sample (1:10 are unsuccessful) we believe that in situations where our instructions have been followed correctly and success has not been met,  a second attempt will most likely meet with the same fate. But the choice is yours – so if you want to take this risk, we can send you another finger-prick kit free of charge.  However, if you fail again and request a refund, we will deduct an administration charge of £5.  Alternatively of course, we can look at phlebotomy options for you such as a nurse home visit or attendance at a Circle Health hospital or Superdrug Clinic, or you can arrange your own vacutainer sample collection and we won’t charge you for the failed finger-prick kit.

 

ONE YEAR USAGE

You have up to one year from when you have purchased the kit to return it to the Laboratory in the supplied envelope (provided the kit expiry date has not passed). After a year has passed, if you still would like your test, please contact us and we’ll see what we can do for you.  Please bear in mind, that additional charges may apply, should you require a replacement kit.

 

REFUNDS GUARANTEE

Refund requests must be made by email to assistance@bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk within the timeframes previously stated, together with a reason for the request. Unused kits should be sent to Blue Horizon Medicals, Turtle Grove Barns, Sydenham, Lewdown, EX20 4PR. Please DO NOT use the supplied envelope within the kit, as this will go directly to the Laboratory and may incur further charges.

 

WHAT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE

There are a number of factors that we have no control over and hence cannot guarantee them:

1. Outbound Postage - We cannot guarantee that your kit will get to you on a specific date. Postage options are outlined at checkout at each test combination may use different postage options.
2. Return Sample - Your sample/s should be posted the same day it has been taken. We provide a self-addressed, pre-paid return envelope within your kit, for your use.  We recommend posting your sample Monday – Wednesday.  Should the test/profile need to be back with the Laboratory the next working day, you are financially responsible to arrange this with your local Post Office when sending back. We recommend posting your sample Monday – Thursday. If you do not use a guaranteed next day service back to the Laboratory (posting Monday - Thursday and therefore the sample arriving at the laboratory Tuesday - Friday) we cannot guarantee that the blood will be testable due to clotting of the sample. If you do use a guaranteed next day service within the suggested Monday - Thursday window and the sample has clotted to an extent that some of the Laboratory values cannot be measured, we will honour a refund which will be given in full if no parameters are returned. With profiles, a partial refund will be given as a proportion of tests within that profile that have haemolysed. For example,  if a Female Hormone profile were ordered which includes 4 tests and one of those could not be reported, a refund of 25% of the total price of that profile would be given.  If the profile is required in its entirety and a partial refund does not help your clinical picture, then a postal test kit may not be suitable for you as an individual and you may like to instead explore other Blue Horizon Medicals Services that utilise an appointment at a private clinic and your blood is not left to the fate of the postal service.

 

RESULTS TURNAROUND TIMES

The estimated turnaround times are clearly stated for each test and are to be used as a GUIDE only. They refer to the number of working days (not weekends or Bank Holidays) from sample receipt at the Laboratory to being emailed to ourselves. Please be aware, results can sometimes be received earlier than the guide TAT, likewise, they may also be later, due to circumstances beyond our control such as mechanical breakdown of equipment, human error or transportation issues affecting courier routes, as not all tests will be analysed directly by the Laboratory you are sending your sample to. Results are usually only released by the Laboratory, once all results are available.

 

MEDICAL INTERPRETATION

If you have chosen not to have our Doctors comments on your results, we will email the results to you as soon as possible. If you have chosen to opt in for comments by our GP, please allow 2 to 3 working days for our Doctor to review your results and pass comment.  As we may be unable to make a full assessment on laboratory results alone, you may be informed that a follow up consultation may be needed with your own GP. Additionally, where your results require specialist interpretation, you will be informed of this. Both private and public Doctors are required by the General Medical Council to operate within the bounds of their knowledge for your safety.

LABORATORY RESULTS PRESENTATION

Laboratories can report results in different ways than you are used to or may provide different reference ranges.  We have no control over this. If your results need to be presented in a certain way please do check with us before you place your order.