In this section
Protecting personal information
The laboratory adheres to the Trust-wide Policies on information governance for the protection of patient information, including the Trust “Data Protection Policy”.
Patient consent
It is important that patient and family information is provided on the request form, where relevant (e.g. for interpreting genetic examination results). We may have to refer samples for testing to other laboratories if we are unable to perform the testing in-house. In these cases we will have to send patient identifiers, such as name, date of birth and the clinical details we have been given to enable these laboratories to perform appropriate testing and interpret results correctly.
The patient presenting to the point of sample collection or providing a sample themselves to their healthcare provider implies consent. The individual requesting the tests has responsibility for obtaining informed consent for these tests. Informed consent should cover all the tests requested, the implications of any results and that personal details and clinical information will be shared with the requesting organisation and any other organisations involved in providing the tests and results.
(Last reviewed June 2021)