A WORRIED councillor called for "urgent action" after a surgery revealed it is suspending routine blood tests in the wake of a nationwide supply issue.

Harwich councillor Ivan Henderson called on the Government to take steps to resolve distribution problems faced by pharmaceutical giant Roche.

Last week, the Swiss company said it had experienced a “very significant drop” in its processing capacity due to a technical problem with its automated Sussex distribution centre, its only one in the UK.

This led to problems in the supply of materials used in diagnostic tests including chemicals and reagents, screening kits and swabs.

At Mayflower Medical Centre, in Dovercourt, routine blood tests were suspended from last Wednesday.

In a statement, the practice said: "This unfortunately includes patients who already have a routine blood test booked.

"If your blood test is clinically urgent, it will still take place, and we are contacting patients directly.

"This is due to a nationwide supply issue with the chemicals needed by the laboratory to analyse blood samples.

"It is therefore necessary for clinically urgent blood tests to be prioritised."

The surgery said further updates will be released as soon as possible.

Mr Henderson said: "How can this Government allow these vital stocks of chemicals to get so low?

"The Government needs to take urgent action so that people can get their blood tests done."

Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs will only order laboratory tests if they think it will be beneficial in diagnosing a patient or helping to manage an existing health condition, and they need to be able to order investigations as and when necessary.

“Any delays in receiving test results will be a cause of concern for GPs and patients alike – particularly in cases where the results will determine or change a patient’s treatment plan.”

Roche said the firm would be "well on the way" to resolving the issue by the end of this week.

The company added it the issue had not affected the supply of Covid-19 tests.

Last week, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Roche alerted the Department of Health and Social Care to an issue with their supply chain and they are working to resolve this urgently.

“It is expected to have little to no impact on Covid testing and Roche are already prioritising the dispatch of tests to ensure uninterrupted supplies.

“Measures are also being put in place to ensure that other NHS supplies can continue and Roche have extended their working hours and recruited extra staff so they can return to normal as quickly as possible.”