Clinical information

The relevance and adequacy of clinical information that accompanies laboratory requests can determine the selection and range of investigations.

For us (biomedical scientists) to perform effectively and efficiently, we must be provided with adequate clinical information that is relevant to the patient's situation.

Insufficient clinical information provided by the requesting clinician to the laboratory may compromise patient care by making the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases difficult or delayed.

In order to minimise risk of exposure and potential infection of all staff involved in patient care, it is important that adequate, relevant clinical information is provided. Providing clinical information will enable us to apply the correct safety precautions when handling, processing and storing specimens.

Clinical staff requesting pathology investigations should provide appropriate information such as relevant clinical presentation, significant medical history, clinically relevant lifestyle information (e.g. history of intravenous drug use) and in some cases, recent travel history.

For example, if a patient is known or suspected to potentially carry a human pathogen, specimens collected from that patient should be handled with appropriate level of precaution, including warning labels that clearly highlight the sample is of particular high risk.

If later during the course of patient management, additional information which may have implications for the safety of laboratory personnel, becomes available, that information should be disseminated to the laboratory immediately, so that the appropriate precautionary steps are taken.

Some of the links on this page will take you to third party websites. 

Tests, with the exception of blood transfusion, are requested using CyberLab, training must be completed before access is granted to request tests and you can enrol by using this link e-learning. 

If Cyberlab is not working tests can be requested by using the template on the reverse of the CyberLab form and handwriting the patients details remembering to label the sample too.

Blood transfusion tests are requested using dedicated request forms and samples must be hand labelled.  There are strict sample acceptance criteria for blood transfusion.  Please refer to the blood transfusion section of this site for more information. Link here

Communication of Critical results

How to order stock

​​Complete this form and email it to bfwh.pathology.stores@nhs.net.

We are aware that this form may not be accessible to everyone. If you are unable to access this form please email bfwh.pathology.stores@nhs.net who will be able to help you.

Hints and tips for taking a blood sample:

Before: 
  • Choose the right specimen tube(s). If in doubt, see Cyberlab form,
  • Check the expiry dates of the blood tubes,
  • Check the patient is correct for the form you have, Positive Patient Identification. 
During:

  • If a tourniquet is left on for too long, it can lead to incorrect results,

  • If blood is drawn too quickly it will cause the sample to be haemolysed and unsuitable for some tests e.g potassium,

  • Filling blood tubes in the wrong order can cause cross-contamination and incorrect results, follow this order:
    - Serum/Serum-G​​​​​​​
    - Citrate
    - Heparin/Heparin-G
    - EDTA
    - Fluoride/Citrate-Fluoride

After:

Once blood samples have been collected, blood tubes should be gently inverted at least 8-10 times to ensure blood is mixed with additives in the tube. 

Labelling, sending and storing samples:

  • If a sample requires urgent analysis, please mark as urgent and inform the laboratory,
  • Specimen tube labels are best applied correctly in order to allow for barcode scanning,
  • All samples should be sent to the laboratory as soon as possible, as some tests have short stability times: e.g 12 hours = potassium, 24 hours = magnesium, phosphate, CK, ferritin, folate...
Best practice:
  • Use CyberLab or Maxims (A&E) to request samples,
  • Only use handwritten form when CyberLab is down,
  • If request forms are filled by hand, write clearly and legibly ensuring samples are completed with all patient information, and form include the tests requested, date and time of samples collected, clinician and requesting location,
  • Make sure the sample and form have three patient identifiers.
Dos:
  • Place the label straight along the length of the tube, with the name at the top, 
  • Use the correct label,
  • Double check that all relevant information is correctly printed on the label,
  • Before sending to the lab, check the information is correct on the label and matches the documentation that comes with it, 
  • You MUST update the lab if there is potential for the patient to be infected with a High Consequence Infectious Disease prior to sending any samples to the laboratory.
Don'ts:
  • Wrap the label around the tube horizontally, diagonally across it, or as a flag on it. If the tube is labelled in this way, the scanner may not be able to fully read the barcode,
  • Leave little bumps in the label. Instead, make sure it's flush with the surface of the container,
  • Attach one label to two or more tubes, even if they come from the same sample.

For support, please contact the Pathology reception on 01253 956950.