Unless otherwise specified, sample type required is venous blood in EDTA anticoagulant.

Routine hospital turnaround times listed in each test refer to the average time taken from receipt in the laboratory to authorisation, while routine GP turnaround times refer to the average time between when they are collected by the transport and authorisation. They are not guaranteed maximum turnaround times, as delays in transport would lead to delays in analysis, and sequential tests may be required to provide appropriate results therefore potentially delaying reporting. A list of sequential tests is available in the Sequential Testing section.

"Working day" refers to Monday to Friday 08:00-17:00 (not including Bank Holidays).

For bone marrow film examinations, obtain slides from the Haematology laboratory.

Additional requests

Full blood count samples are retained for 2 days during which certain additional requests may be processed (see individual tests below for any specific requirements). Please note that blood films made on samples older than 24 hours will not be viable for examination due to morphological changes induced by the anticoagulant.

Additional INR and D Dimer tests on coagulation samples already in the laboratory may be requested up to 24 hours after the sample was originally taken. Due to the half-life of certain clotting factors, other coagulation tests are ideally performed on fresh samples.

For add-on tests to be performed, a request form must be sent to the laboratory indicating that the request is for add-on testing.

Haematology
Full Blood Count (FBC) [1]
Reticulocyte Count [2]
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) [3]
Paediatric Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESRP) [4]
Body Fluid Analysis [5]
Blood Film [6]
Malaria Screen [7]
Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) [8]
Iron Stain [9]
G6PD Screen
[10]Gladular Fever Screen [11]

Coagulation

Coagulation Screen [12]
INR [13]
Heparin Ratio [14]
Low Molecular Weight Heparin (anti Xa) [15]
Liver Screen PT [16]
D Dimer [17]
Thrombotic Screen [18]
Lupus Anticoagulant Screen [19]
von Willebrand Factor (vWF) [20]
Coagulation Factor Assay [21]
Factor XIII Antigen Assay [22]
Rivaroxaban Assay [23]
Apixaban Assay
[24]Edoxaban Assay [25]

Flow Cytometry
HLA B27 [26]
CD3, CD4 & CD8 HIV Monitoring [27]
T & B Subsets [28]
[29]Kleihauer [30] (requested via the Blood Transfusion department)

Haemoglobinopathies
Haemoglobinopathy Screen [31]
Haemoglobin Electrophoresis [32]

Sendaway Tests

Important note: All sendaway tests are either requested exclusively by Haematology consultants or laboratory staff, or can be requested by other clinical staff only if a Haematology consultant has authorised the request.

All overdue sendaway requests are pursued routinely by laboratory staff. If there are any issues regarding pending results from a sendaway test, please contact this laboratory on extension 8453 rather than the reference laboratory.

Haemochromatosis HFE gene testing is dealt with by Specimen Reception (x8468).

Leukaemia/Lymphoma phenotyping referral
[33]Molecular testing referral
[34]ABL Kinase domain mutations
[35]CALR/Calreticulin
[36]MPL [37]
[35]BCR-ABL Ratio Analysis (Diagnosis by FISH)
[38]BCR-ABL Ratio Analysis (Monitoring by PCR)
[39]BCR-ABL Ratio Analysis (Monitoring for Trial Patients) [40]
[35]BCR-ABL1 Kinase domain mutations
[41]Bone marrow trephine referral
[42]Bone marrow aspirate referral
[43]Chromosomal Analysis, FISH & Cytogenetics
[44]Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haematuria (PNH)
[45]Tissue Typing for Bone Marrow Transplant
[46]CSF referral
[47]Exon 12
[48]Eosin-5-Maleimide (EMA)
[49]JAK2
[50]G6PD assay [51]
[52]Flow cytometry referral
[53]HLA B27 referral
[54]Coagulation Factor Inhibitor Screen
[55]vWF Cleaving Protease (ADAMTS13) Assay
[56]Coagulation test referral (Non-molecular)
[57]Coagulation test referral (Molecular)
[58]Platelet Function Assay
[59]Platelet aggregation studies [60]
[41]vWF Multimers Assay
[61]PIVKA II and vitamin K levels
[62]Malaria referral
[63]Red Cell Adenosine Deaminase
[64]Fanconi Anaemia
[65]PML/RARA (Diagnosis)
[66]PML/RARA (Monitoring & Trial Patients)
[67]Abnormal Haemoglobin referral (Globin chain analysis)
[68]Abnormal Haemoglobin referral (Haemoglobin variant)
[69]Gaucher’s Disease
[70]NPM1 [71]
[41]Rare inherited anaemia [72]
[41]HLH syndrome (Haemophagocytosis) [73]
[41]Soluble CD25 [74]
[41]Pyruvate Kinase
[75]Anderson-Fabry Disease
[76]P53 mutation
[77]Immunoglobulin Gene Mutation
[78]Next Gene Sequencing - Myeloid [79]
[41]Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Next Gene Sequencing
[80]Minimal Residual Disease Monitoring - ALL
[81]Minimal Residual Disease Monitoring - AML
[82]Vaccine Induced Thrombocytopenia [83]