The

Pathology Lab
Blood Science
Handles transfusions and full blood counts.
Before transfusion, cross matching is carried out to determine
the suitability between donor and recipient- the ABO and Rh
blood groups are the most significant.
There are strict time constraints for delivery of blood and
plasma: plasma must be defrosted and delivered within 8
hours, and blood must be delivered within 3 hours.
Records of blood transfusions are kept for 30 years.
Blood is followed along an audit trail using BARS- the Blood
Audit and Release Software. This tracks all details of the
transfusion with a single barcode, with the most important
ones being patient identity, temperature, compatibility, time,
date, and action.

Microbiology
The three sections of the microbiology lab deal with urine,
blood, and feces. Serological testing and virology are not done
in the hospital; these samples are sent to Public Health England
in Bristol.
Urine samples are initially processed via culturing on an agar
plate at 37 degrees. Microscopy and antibiotic testing is carried
out, which shapes the treatment options available to the
patient.
Blood cultures undergo a similar process. MRSA testing is only
done at 11am and 3pm due to the specific incubation times
needed to confirm an MRSA culture.
Clinical details, such as abdominal pain or wound quality, are
extremely helpful in directing the microbiologists work, but
are often not recorded.

Histology
Comprised of histology and cytology.
Histology handles solid tissues, such as biopsies and
resections, whilst cytology examines the cellular components
of fluids, such as gynaecological smear tests.
Solid tissue samples go through a careful process of fixing in
paraformaldehyde, and impregnation into paraffin wax.
After the wax hardens, it is cut into a block, which is further cut
into slices of only 5 micrometres in thickness.
These slices are stained with haematoxylin and eosin, which
are specific to cell nuclei and connective tissue respectively.
Tissue samples usually arrive from different part of the
hospital, but can also be sent in by GPs.

Clinical Chemistry
Due to technological advances, these procedures are now
largely automated; often there will be no clinical chemists in
the lab.
Basic tests, such as urine and electrolytes, may be run in
combination with other tests. This can save a lot of time, and
speed a patients diagnosis up greatly.
A big problem in clinical chemistry is incorrect (or absent)
patient identification on the test tube.