Laboratory Medicine
Diagnostic Cytology & Andrology
Andrology (Semen Analysis)
The Andrology Laboratory Service is available for post-vasectomy and fertility analysis for patients from the York, Scarborough and Bridlington area.
Patients must be provided with a request form before they book their appointment at www.york.nhs.uk/andrology. Please also provide patients with a toxicity tested pot (if not producing on-site). Please ensure they understand the sample-production information. Information sheets can be printed from the booking website. Further information an FAQs are also on the website.
Samples will be rejected if an appointment has not been booked or they do not meet the acceptance criteria.
Any first post-vasectomy samples wishing to be dropped at Scarborough Hospital Specimen Reception for the transport to York must also be pre-booked.
If you have any questions/problems please call us on 01904 726258.
Diagnostic Cytology
Contacts for the Diagnostic Cytology Service:
For general result and specimen enquiries, clinical advice and key contact details for the Non-Gynae Cytology service: Click Here
Advice for requesters for NHSCSP Cervical Cytology samples: Click Here
Request forms
Please use the purple topped histology/cytology request form for all Diagnostic Cytology requests. Please do not seal the request form in the bag with the sample.
Samples classified as High Risk
Please ensure no specimens for Diagnostic Cytology are sent in the pod system.
Double bag any High Risk specimens (including pleural fluids) and do not seal the request form in the bag with the sample. High risk samples will be prepared in the Containment Level 3 facility must not have the request form sealed within the bag.
Out of Hours Samples
The Diagnostic Cytology Laboratory is open 8:30-17:00 weekdays (excluding bank holidays). Please ensure samples for Diagnostic Cytology are delivered within these core hours. If they must be delivered outside these hours, please request portering staff place Cytology samples in the red box in the walk-in fridge on the 1st floor at York Hospital. It is important that unfixed cytology samples are refrigerated if there is to be a delay in processing.
Turnaround Times for Diagnostic Cytology reports
The following times given are the minimum time taken to process and produce a typed report. Inquiries regarding reports should not be made in advance of the minimum time. If an urgent report is required, this should be clearly indicated on the request form and a telephone or bleep number should be given.
| Sample | Minimum Turnaround Time |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic Cytology |
80% of samples are reported within 7 days of collection and 90% within 10 days. In accordance with RCPath Guidelines |
| Surgical Histology Specimens | 3 days from receipt |
| Fine Needle Aspirates: rapid verbal reporting 30 mins from receipt after agreement with the reporting pathologist. | |
Samples referred to other laboratories
Diagnostic Cytology samples with clinical information suggestive of haematological malignancy may require further investigations which are unavailable at York Hospital. These will be forwarded where appropriate to the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service (HMDS) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Please note HMDS investigations on fresh specimens should be performed within 24 hours if flow cytometry or RNA extraction is required.
If the clinician would like to send the sample to HMDS via Laboratory Medicine, there are 2 transport runs to Leeds from York Hospital each day at 13:30 and 16:00. Please ring York Cytology ext 6258 to inform the lab that a sample for HMDS is being taken and where possible aim to deliver the sample to the lab at least 30 minutes before the transport time. This will enable the sample to be appropriately labelled, packaged and tracked.
For samples taken at Scarborough Hospital, please ring the Scarborough lab on 771 2625. The transport to Leeds from Scarborough is at 15:00.
The final report will be sent to the requesting clinician and a copy sent to our requesting pathologist. The turnaround times from HMDS are routinely 2.7 days for CSF samples and 3.6 days for effusions.
If the clinician only requires HMDS investigations and a report via Laboratory Medicine is not required, the sample should be packaged up with a completed HMDS request form (see link) to be sent direct to HMDS using a taxi.
http://hmds.info/diagnostic-service/how-to-send-us-a-specimen
Web page 50 last updated: 15/06/2022
