Skip to main content
Smaller Larger Print

MENU

HSL RRLs: Specimen acceptance/rejection criteria

Pre-examination sample suitability and integrity is important to the final test result that is reported by the laboratory and/ or to the safety of laboratory staff. As a result, the laboratory will reject the specimen and not proceed with analysis of samples if the following criteria listed below are not present.

Sample

Essential labelling requirements

  • NHS, CHI or Health and Care Number, Hospital number
  • Patient’s full name or unique coded identifier
  • Date of birth and/or hospital number

Desirable labelling requirements

  • Date and time of collection (essential)
  • Identification of person taking the sample (essential for BT)
  • Nature of sample, including qualifying details, e.g. left, distal etc. especially if more than one sample per request is submitted.
  • For time study samples, such as PD fluids, time of collection of each sample is essential.

Request Form (either paper or electronic)

Essential labelling requirements

  • NHS, CHI or Health and Care Number*, Hospital number
  • Patient’s full name or unique coded identifier
  • Date of birth and/or hospital number
  • Gender
  • Patient’s location and destination for report
  • Patient’s consultant, GP or name of requesting practitioner
  • Investigation(s) required
  • Clinical information including relevant medication (which is sometimes essential)
  • Date and time sample collected (which is sometimes essential)
  • Practitioner’s contact number (bleep or extension)

 

Desirable labelling requirements

  • Patient’s address including postcode

*Use of the NHS number, on paper and electronic patient records, is now a mandatory requirement included within the NHS Operating Framework 2008/9. Patient data should be used to identify the sample up to the point where an NHS or CHI Number is allocated, whereupon this becomes the primary identifier.

Rejection criteria

  • Any unlabelled/ partially labelled samples will not be accepted for processing.
  • Any samples received labelled with pre-used requests will not be accepted for processing. Repeat samples will be needed.
  • Samples delayed for receipt > 24h in the laboratory are not suitable for analysis and therefore will be discarded

  • Samples from multiple patients should not be sent in one bag and if in such cases there is evidence of spillage they will be discarded and the requester informed.

  • Samples received with needles attached to tubes will be discarded.
  • All sample conditions such as specific temperature requirement should be followed i.e. if temperature of the samples need to be maintained at 4°C or body temperature for e.g. cryoglobulins these instructions should be followed. Please refer to pathology test finder for sample requirements.