We recommend the use of the DX service, but any courier service or guaranteed first class post is acceptable.
NB: The DX service requires the sender to have a contract with DX. Further information
The laboratory is staffed Monday to Friday 08:30 to 17:30 and on Saturday for the unpacking and labelling of samples, which will be placed in cold-storage until the next working day.
Before sending samples please check that:
Please be aware that it is the responsibility of the sender to comply with safety regulations when transporting material.
For full information on this subject, visit Sample Advice.
No. We undertake diagnostic work for hospital departments, laboratories and medical practitioners. We undertake research and development work for and with university departments, pharmaceutical companies and other organisations. We will supply information about our testing and our Microbiologist will liaise with your GP or physician if this is seen to be helpful.
We offer an 8-hour service from receipt of clinical specimens for double the normal sample analysis price. Please enquire BEFORE requesting this service; we may be able to offer a routine assay that is as fast on the day and will cost no extra.
At weekends, please telephone to arrange urgent analysis. We place a weekend premium on our charges for urgent analysis; please enquire by telephone if you are considering using this service.
Yes, all clients or prospective clients are very welcome to visit our laboratory.
To arrange a visit, please contact us.
Results are transmitted to users between 16:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday with the exception of any SARS CoV-2 test results from any pre-arranged weekend testing. These will be transmitted to users on Saturday or Sunday when results are approved.
The primary delivery method is to pre-specified email address as a PDF attachment. Where a single email address is specified, we strongly recommend that multiple users have access to this mailbox.
Clinical important or relevant results will be telephoned as soon as the test operator enters them into LIMS and requests their immediate authorisation.
For details, please see Sample Advice.
Sensitivity depends on the quality of the clinical sample and the test performed. We can give a measure of sensitivity in terms of organisms or genome copies detected, based on cell culture isolates of wild type virus or bacterial culture. Many molecular detection systems are more sensitive for clinical use than conventional culture methods because the organism does not have to remain viable to allow detection. Antibody assays may be measured in International Units.
All submitted specimens are processed with a nucleic acid extraction procedure that has been shown to overcome the potential inhibition of assays associated with clinical material. Urine samples however, may still contain enough inhibitors, even after extraction, to affect the detection of low levels of target nucleic acid. Please bear this in mind when considering results from urine samples e.g. Chlamydia trachomatis testing.
The laboratory is fully staffed Monday to Friday 08:30 to 17:30. We receive samples on Saturday morning and these will be processed on the next Monday.
Outside of these hours an on-call clinical advice service is always available.
For details of our quality assurances, please see Quality Assurance.