Urgent Testing Policy and Critical Results

Urgent Testing Policy

Urgent testing must be made by contacting the laboratory telephone number in the contacts section (Section 2).

Urgent request samples must be received in the HUB laboratory no later than 1pm. Samples being referred from the ESL sample receptions (Sandwell, City, Dudley and Walsall) should arrive no later than 11am so that the sample can arrive at the HUB by 1pm. Samples received after this time will be tested on the next working day.

Tests that can be requested urgently are as follows:

• Myeloperoxidase antibody (MPO)
• Proteinase 3 antibody (PR3)
• Glomerular basement membrane antibody (GBM)
• dsDNA Quantification (DNA)

Critical Results Policy

Any urgent requests or clinically significant abnormal results within the tests listed below will be telephoned through to the requesting clinician, regardless of the results.

Results that fall within the critical results category will be telephoned through to the requesting clinician or laboratory (if details are available) where there is an SLA in place.

Results that fall under the critical results category are as follows:

• Glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibodies on new patients only of results > 10.0 IU/mL
• Myeloperoxidase antibody (MPO) antibodies on new patients only of results > 5.0 IU/mL
• Proteinase 3 antibody (PR3) antibodies on new patients only of results > 3.0 IU/mL
• CD4 values of <200 cells/uL
• Suspected severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) indicated by the following ESID criteria:
  • Less than 2 years of age
  • Absence of T cells (<300/uL)
  • Less than 20% CD3+ T cells