In this section
Reports
All reports issued by the department are available on the relevant Trusts’ electronic systems. This will be EPIC HIVE Electronic Patient Record at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust sites and Lorenzo within Tameside. For primary care, paper reports are distributed to the GP practice systems.
Paper reports are still sent to all external.
Users are requested to check if final reports are available on the patient chart in HIVE before making enquiries. Please note that clerical staff will not give report details over the telephone.
Turnaround time
The Synovial Fluid Cytology service aims to report all specimens in accordance with NHSE Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) by March 2025.
Existing turnaround times guided by the Royal College of Pathologists are:
80% of cases are to be reported within seven calendar days of sample being taken whilst 90% are to be reported within ten calendar days – www.rcpath.org. TAT relates to the final local report and excludes cases sent for external opinion and those that require molecular biology analysis. The department is required to publish monthly audit reports and this information is available on request.
However, sometimes a sample may be deemed urgent by the requesting clinician in these instances;
- Urgent specimens will be processed on the same day if received by 13:30 hrs. Please provide a contact number or bleep and name.
- We will aim to give a same day report, this may only be a provisional report pending further ancillary tests.
- It is recommended that the requesting clinician discuss such specimens with the histo/cytopathologist on 0161 276 5115/5116. In all cases, the clinician should telephone the laboratory in advance and provide a contact name and phone or bleep number.
Routine specimens will be processed on the same day provided that the sample is received by 13:30 hrs. This may vary depending on clinical information or if ancillary tests are required e.g special stains.
- Synovial fluid cytology reports are printed and sent out daily, addressed to the consultant or GP who requested the test. Where an email address has been provided, reports will be emailed.
- Additionally, the user is informed of any sepsis reports for MFT patients only on HIVE secure chat.
- To discuss the cytology report with the Consultant Histo/Cytopathologist, contact the department between 08:00 hrs and 17:00 hrs on 0161 276 5115/5116
(Last reviewed February 2025)