Pathology

The Pathology Department at St Anthony’s Hospital offers a full range of diagnostic testing for both inpatient and outpatient services. The laboratory has Clinical Chemistry, Haematology, Infectious Diseases and Blood Transfusion services on site and utilises a large number of external providers for Immunology, Histology and Cytology services to compliment these. The Pathology department operates a full 24/7, 365 day service.

The Laboratory is fully CPA accredited and the Blood Transfusion service is accredited by the MHRA.

For further details see the department links or refer to our ‘Laboratory User Guide’

Clinical Chemistry

The Clinical Chemistry department utilises Abbott Architect technology to perform a large range of Chemistry, Immunoassay, endocrinology and Serology tests. In total the department offers over 70 tests in house including new and emerging markers such as Anti-CCP (rheumatoid marker) and Active B12. Abbott is a progressive company and as new assays become available, our department strives to make these available in house as soon as possible.

A full list of tests and reference ranges can be found in our 'User Guide'.

Recent new tests include:
Active B12 (Holotranscobalamine) -used to determine functional B12 status. Anti-CCP—a new marker for rheumatoid arthritis Female Testosterone— our new method allows for us to accurately measure female testosterone levels without the need for complex extraction methods.

Haematology

The Haematology department performs both routine and emergency full blood counts for all in and out patients for the hospital and has a current turn around time of 15 minutes from receipt to result. The service is supported by a number of Haematology Consultants allowing diagnosis and referral for all abnormal results

The department also offers a comprehensive coagulation service. We currently offer a full warfarin monitoring service 6 days a week for INR testing and continued dosing. For more information please see the section on 'Warfain Clinic'

Infectious Disease

Our Microbiology laboratory is capable of processing all samples in house and has a Cat 3 facility allowing us to process TB and other respiratory samples. The Infectious Disease department offers a wide range of serological testing including Hepatitis, HIV and Syphilis.

We also offer a wide range of rapid tests including H-Pylori, Legionella, pneumococcal and T-Spot for TB contact.

The department works very closely with the Infection Control team within the hospital and we are able to keep the rate of infections within the hospital to less than 0.6%.

Blood Transfusion

The state of the art, 8 bed ITU ward, cardiac surgery and orthopaedic work carried out at St Anthony’s necessitates a comprehensive and at times complex and timely supply of blood and blood components. The Blood Transfusion laboratory supports these and other requirements within the hospital with support from our local National Blood Transfusion Centre. The laboratory operates a full 24/7 emergency service for the entire hospital.

The service is fully compliant with the MHRA regulations.

Phlebotomy Services

To support our on-site laboratory, the Pathology department runs two phlebotomy clinics, one in the Out Patient Department at St Anthony’s and a further clinic in the new Raynes Park Facility. Both centres offer a walk-in service with no need to book an appointment and carry out both blood sampling and ECG recordings (some restrictions apply at the Raynes park site, please call for details).

Paediatric Phlebotomy Services

From May 2014, both the St Anthony’s and Raynes Park Facilities provide a full phlebotomy service for children aged 2 years and over. There is no need to book an appointment, however, ringing in advance can help to reduce the wait during busy periods.

Samples can be sent on to your respective Hospital laboratory or processed at the St Anthony’s laboratory (charges may apply) depending upon your requirements.

Opening times:

St Anthony’s Out Patient facility:
Monday to Friday: 9am until 7:30pm (paediatric up until 4pm)

Saturday: 9am until 12:30pm

Sunday: Closed

Raynes Park facility:
Monday to Friday: 8:30am until 7:30pm (restrictions apply for some tests please contact the laboratory for details)

Saturday: 9am until 11:30am

Sunday: Closed

Other Services

Bowel Cancer Screening

The first round of investigations for Bowel Cancer requires the analysis of Faecal Occult Bloods. This test looks for the presence of minute amounts of blood in stool samples. By request, we will send out a collection card for samples which can be posted back to the laboratory for analysis. Please contact the laboratory for further details.

IBS or IBD?

Calprotectin has recently been approved by NICE for the differential diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. From January 2014, we will be offering this as a 30 minute while you wait test through our outpatients department or via a postal service where patients can request a test kit and return the sample directly to the Laboratory. Please contact the laboratory for further details.

Warfarin Clinic

Our dedicated warfarin dosing clinic allows both new and long-term patients on warfarin to have their INR measured and warfarin dosing to be adjusted where required as a walk in venepuncture clinic, 6 days a week. There is no need to book an appointment reducing the waiting time compared to other services. Every patient is called later the same day with their result and individual dosing instructions. Please contact the laboratory for further details.

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