Pathology – Haematology (Laboratory) & Transfusion Department |
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| General Haematology and Transfusion Services are provided by the laboratories at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon. We provide a diagnostic service and supply blood products for the Wiltshire area and beyond. We undertake a range of 150+ tests on an annual workload of over 300,000 specimens a year. We provide a range of services including routine blood count, coagulation assays, haemoglobino-pathy screening, haematinic assay as well as delivering high quality transfusion support to the NHS and independent sectors. As part of our service, we are uniquely placed to offer both clinical and laboratory advice on patients with blood abnormalities. |
PATHOLOGY
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In this section: |
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Contact Thedepartment is part of the Pathology Directorate of the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust. The postal address is: Haematology Department Telephone contact numbers:
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Service Availability The laboratories are open for receipt of specimens from 0900 to 1700 between Monday and Friday, and from 0900 to 1200 on Saturday mornings. |
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Results Please note that we will need to establish the caller’s identity before giving results over the telephone. We are unable to give results directly to patients or their relatives. Completed results are available to view by authorised users on the Medway system and the Ward Enquiry system. Results may also be obtained by telephoning 01793 604293. In general, results are not available until they have been authorised. In exceptional circumstances, preliminary results may be available direct from the relevant laboratory. However, please bear in mind that this may delay the testing of other samples. Haematology: 01793 60 45 89 Transfusion: 01793 60 42 20 |
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Clinical Advice For clinical advice on the interpretation of results, please contact the duty Specialist Registrar/Consultant. The duty Specialist Registrar/Consultant can be contacted via the GWH switchboard: 01793 60 40 20. |
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Tests and Handbook and Protocols A list of tests provided by the Haematology department is provided in the user handbook. All tests should be requested at the time of submitting the specimen to the laboratory. Amendments to requests, or the need for additional tests, can still be discussed with the laboratory after processing has started. In general, additional tests must be requested within 48 hours of sample receipt within the laboratory. In some cases, additional tests may not be possible and a fresh specimen will be required. Further advice can be obtained from the laboratory. |
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Specimen Transport Since we receive over 300,000 specimens each year, our efficiency depends to a large extent on the cooperation of our users. Compliance with a few rules concerning safety, specimen identification and transport will greatly help us to deliver the service. Specimen Containers All specimen containers must be clearly labelled with the patient’s name, date of birth, the date of collection and the type of specimen. The hospital number should be included where possible. All samples must be in approved containers, and must be transported to the laboratory according to the requirements in the Trust policy. Request Forms All samples must be accompanied by a properly completed request form, giving relevant clinical information, patient location and detailing the investigation required. Please note that inadequately labelled specimens and those unaccompanied by adequately completed request forms may not be processed. Health & Safety Samples thought to constitute a risk to staff because of inadequate packing or the use of inappropriate containers may be rejected. |
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Quality Management The Pathology Service is committed to maintaining accreditation for its quality management system. Accreditation is undertaken by Clinical Pathology Accreditation (UK) Ltd, an independent external organisation. Details of our accreditation, together with performance data, are available from the Quality Manager. In order to help us improve our service, we may ask our users to complete a questionnaire. We greatly value the information obtained from these surveys, and we would like to thank our users in anticipation of their assistance in completing these questionnaires. |
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