All disagreements are reviewed and where necessary an amended report is issued. 16 clinical review meeting are held each month in Leeds and other Yorkshire hospitals at which the laboratory diagnosis is reviewed together with clinical features and where possible imaging studies. Within the General Infirmary there is a very close relationship with the Clinical Haematology Unit which is facilitated by several members of staff who work in both the laboratory and in the clinical area. The work is funded through block contracts with NHS purchasing authorities allowing open access to the service. Work from other NHS units or private hospitals is charged on a cost per item basis.
Current charges are available on request.
Ideally lymph node biopsies and other tissue specimens should be sent to the laboratory as unfixed tissue. This allows marker studies to be carried out by flow cytometry and improves quality of material prepared for FISH or PCR based investigations. The portion of the specimen to be used for histology and immunocytochemistry can be processed under standardised conditions to ensure optimal results. Specimens should be sent in tissue culture medium or sterile saline by the fastest available method of transport. The specimen should be received within 24 hours.