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The Department offers a limited out of hours service for UHP patients to facilitate the forward progression of samples if the results are likely to influence patient management. There is no out of hours medical cover.

Receipt and processing of very urgent specimens – these must be those specimens that an urgent result is needed for immediate treatment of the patient. This service is dependent on the availability of a suitable processing machine.

Telephone advice to medical and nursing staff as to specimen handling.

Preparation of urgent non cervical cytology specimens – Monday to Friday CSF specimens may be stored in the fridge overnight and delivered to the laboratory the next day. Saturday and Sunday call the on-call BMs via switchboard for advice.

Issue of completed histology and cytology reports necessary for immediate patient care.  Authorised reports are available in iCM, however, if access is unavailable, reports may be issued. Results will not be read out but will be issued via email to an nhs.net account.

Reviewed December 2023
This page will be updated June 2024