The blood sample journey at our Trust

Hi, welcome to Pathology Biochemistry and Blood Sciences. Here we receive bloods from phlebotomy that after once you've had them bled, we receive them, book them in and then process them throughout the rest of the lab. We have two types of samples, we have biochemistry sample and we have a hematology sample that is processed in a different way and follows the different routes. Samples are so that they are easily traceable and trackable to the credentials that are presented on the form for the patient. Once booked in, samples are placed into consets and loaded onto the tray where they are prioritised as urgent samples based on their tests and patient credentials. The track system has been programmed so that it will only prioritise urgent samples from A&E and other urgent wards around the hospital. The track has also been fitted with three centrifugation units. Centrifugation is the process upon which the blood is separated from the serum, so that the serum and the serum only can be analysed. The track is also fitted with a camera. The purpose of the camera is to determine if the accurate amount of serum has been produced after centrifugation. If the amount of serum is inadequate for further analysis, the track is also fitted with an aliquoting system. Prior to running a patient's samples on our Roche Cobas 8000 analysers, we carry out maintenance on a daily basis before running a patient's samples, as well as carrying out periodic maintenance in accordance to the manufacturer's recommendation. After analysis, samples travel to the 701 unit filing system. This assigns samples to a rack where they are filed and stored away in the 701 unit. The 701 unit can hold thousands of samples where they are kept at cool storage, so that the stability of analytes within the serum are preserved for later analysis if need be. Once samples are processed on the analysers, the results are transmitted from the analyser computers to the host interface. At that point, any results that are held back are evaluated by the person that's looking at the results here. Once they're in Wimpath, any normal results will be automatically authorised by the system, and any abnormal ones, they'll go into an urgent queue. Samples received in haematology are almost certainly for full blood count testing, and it's one of the most frequently requested tests. We receive samples in purple tube bottles. The samples are pre-loaded into sample racks and loaded onto our track system, which feeds the samples through our full blood count analysers. Once a sample has been through the full blood count machine, if there are any abnormalities detected, it is sent for a film to be made on an automated film processing analyser, known as a slide maker. Here, a blood smear is prepared on a glass slide and is stained with special stains to help the biomedical scientists identify the blood cell's morphological appearance. After the sample is analysed, it is then stored and filed by a tube sorter system for a period of seven days. The stained blood smear is reviewed down a microscope, which allows for detailed examination of the blood cell structure, which cannot be seen by the naked eye. The results generated from the full blood count and blood film review are reported out onto a patient results database, which is accessed by the requesting healthcare professional.