Healthcare scientists are difficult to describe in one sentence. Many are laboratory based and investigate disease, genetic make up and new scientific treatments. Others involve direct work with patients, for example, measuring the function of a particular organ. Then there are the scientists whose focus is more about engineering, ensuring that medical equipment is working safely or researching new medical technology.
If you’ve ever been given a new treatment, had a biopsy, a scan or a blood, sight or hearing test, it’s more than likely that a member of the healthcare science team was involved.
It’s even possible that the person you thought was a doctor was actually a healthcare scientist. The healthcare science team are involved in over 70% of all clinical decisions in the NHS and you’ll find their fingerprints on many of the latest technological advancements in preventing, diagnosing and treating a wide range of medical conditions (Extract from an article in The Guardian 17th March 2013).
Healthcare Science Career Information
For information on the variety of Healthcare Science careers please visit the websites listed on this page.
NHSGGC offers a wide range of careers in Healthcare science for more information about working for NHSGGC please go to the Recruitment Services page of the NHSGGC website.
Current vacancies in NHSGGC are displayed on the NHS Scotland Jobs Website please follow the link to discover the current available jobs and details of how to apply.
Here you will finds Haematology and Blood Transfusion forms and guidelines related to our service. For further Information and advice please contact the Laboratory using the telephone numbers in our contacts section. More information can be found in our user handbook.
As of 21.08.23 Clyde Haematology and Blood Transfusion will outsource processing (partial) and interpretation of bone marrow samples to the below service:
Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Gartnaval General Hospital, Paul O’Gorman Building, 21 Shelley Road, Glasgow, G12 0XB.
This service is accredited to ISO 15189:2012 (9570) for preparation and interpretation of bone marrow for detection of normal and abnormal morphologies.
All samples from Clyde patients should continue to be sent to Clyde Laboratories for transfer to the above location. Reports will continue to be available via Clinical Portal.
NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN ACCREDITATION STATUS
On 17th\18th of April 2023 the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Clyde Sector, NHSGGC successfully transitioned to BS EN ISO 15189:2022 – Medical laboratories — Requirements for Quality and Competence standards. Transitioning to these new standards ensures the quality management system continues to provide a high quality service to service users, with an increased focus on patient experience.
DEPARTMENT INFORMATION
The Department of Haematology, Clyde Sector, NHSGGC, comprises main Haematology and Blood Transfusion Laboratory Services at both the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Inverclyde Royal Hospital sites, and a satellite laboratory at the Vale of Leven site
The Department is fully committed to the provision of a quality laboratory and clinical service, and is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), using International Standard ISO: 15189, for compliance to the Blood safety and Quality Regulations (BSQR) and The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 by the Medicines and Healthcare Products regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The Department Quality Policy defines the principal aims towards the provision of this service. The Quality Manual provides information relating to the accreditation, organisation, management and structure of the Department.
The Service User Handbook serves to provide comprehensive information regarding the use of the clinical and laboratory service, including information relating to the Departmental test repertoire, specimen requirements, test reference and therapeutic ranges, and urgent and emergency requests. Upon sending samples to our laboratory please refer to our terms and conditions.
The Department welcomes any feedback – if you have any comments, feedback and or complaints (Complaints Policy) in relation to our service, please contact either the Technical Services Manager or the Quality Manager.
Feedback from service users is highly valued and used to improve our services.
To leave us feedback please complete the online form.
Contact Information
Royal Alexandra Hospital
Address
Corsebar Road, Paisley, PA2 9PN
Telephone Numbers
General Enquiries: 0141 314 6157
Clinical Advice can be obtained during normal office hours, by contacting the Duty Consultant Haematologist, via switchboard: 0141 314 7294
Quality Manager: 0141 314 6653
Service Hours
Routine Service: 8.30am until 5.00pm, Monday to Friday
Out of Hours Service: 5.00pm until to 8.30am, Monday to Friday, All Weekend
Inverclyde Royal Hospital
Address
Level C, Larkfield Road, Greenock, PA16 0XN
Telephone Numbers
General Enquiries: 01475 504 324
Clinical Advice can be obtained during normal office hours, by contacting the Duty Consultant Haematologist, via switchboard: 0141 314 9504
Quality Manager: 0141 314 6653
Service Hours
Routine Service: 8.30am until 5.00pm, Monday to Friday
Out of Hours Service: 5.00pm until to 8.30am, Monday to Friday, All Weekend
Vale of Leven Hospital
Address
Main Street, Alexandria, G83 0UA
Telephone Numbers
General Enquiries: 01389 817 265
Clinical Advice can be obtained during normal office hours, by contacting the Duty Consultant Haematologist, via switchboard: 01389 828 599
Quality Manager: 0141 314 6653
Service Hours
Routine Service: 8.30am until 8.00pm, Monday to Friday
This is the home page for Haematology and Blood Transfusion NHSGGC.
Contact and service information, for each Department in the Clyde, North Glasgow and South Glasgow Sectors, can be accessed below.
Haematology
Haematology is the study of the cause, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves the production of blood and its components, such as blood cells, haemoglobin, blood proteins and bone marrow.
Haemostasis (Blood Coagulation)
Haemostasis is how the human body responds to a blood vessel injury or bleeding. It involves the coordinated effort between platelets and numerous blood clotting proteins (or clotting factors), and ends with the forming of a blood clot and the stopping of bleeding.
Blood Transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of how an individual receives blood or blood products. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Blood Transfusion uses individual components of the blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, clotting factors and platelets.
Haematology Staff
Haematologists investigate, diagnose and treat diseases such as anaemia, leukaemia and lymphoma. They also care for patients with blood-clotting abnormalities and are responsible for ensuring that blood transfusions are safe and available when they are needed. Haematologists are the Biomedical Scientists and Clinical Scientists who work in laboratories and the Medical Staff who work with their patients in clinics and on the wards. Haematologists may be involved throughout the patient’s journey, from the very first hospital visit, all the way through laboratory diagnosis to treatment. Hundreds of thousands of blood tests are carried out every day in the UK.
Regulation and Accreditation
Haematology and Blood Transfusion NHSGGC is committed to providing the highest quality laboratory and clinical services we have been accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), using International Standard ISO: 15189. We have been assessed for compliance to the Blood safety and Quality Regulations 2005 (BSQR) and The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). We are assessed for compliance with the Human Tissues Act 2004 (HTA) by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and for compliance to the JACIE standards by The Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT-Europe and EBMT (JACIE).
To find details of each of the individual sector’s accreditation and regulatory compliance then please go to the appropriate sector page.
To look at any sector’s ISO:15189 schedule of accreditation please go to the appropriate sector page or you may click on one of the UKAS logos above.
For queries about the service please contact the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Biochemistry Department on 0141 354 9060.
About the service
The Scottish Biologic Drug Monitoring Service is delivered by the Biochemistry Dept. within the Lab Medicine Building on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital site, Glasgow.
The service currently delivers Infliximab and Adalimumab levels and their respective total anti-drug antibodies (ADA) for optimising care predominantly in gastroenterology patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The service attained UKAS accreditation (2019) and is working with IMMQAS and others to improve the EQA understanding for drug and ADA assays. The service uses both WHO standards for drug levels and a patient pool sample for ADA assay to monitor performance. It is involved in sample exchange with other laboratories.
The service employs a reflex ADA testing strategy based on drug level result. When a drug level result is within or higher than the therapeutic target range, and when ADA level has previously been undetectable, reflex ADA testing is not routinely performed. Since the introduction of reflex ADA testing approximately 50% adalimumab samples and 37% infliximab samples have not had a reflex ADA test performed.
There may be some clinical scenarios where ADA titres are desirable even when drug level results are therapeutic. Requests for additional ADA testing should be indicated clearly at the time of test request or can be arranged by contacting the lab directly.
During 2019 there were 2821 Infliximab and 2920 Adalimumab samples analysed from health boards across Scotland.
TDM tests should be requested according to local biochemistry/immunology laboratory requirements. The previously used paper request forms are no longer required. Local teams are encouraged to collate data related to TDM use and outcomes as this may be required to sustain future rounds of service funding.
Vedolizumab drug level testing is now available. The utility of testing drug and anti-drug antibodies for vedolizumab has yet to be fully ascertained. Target drug levels for vedolizumab have not been clearly established. The current evidence is covered in these articles:
Vedolizumab testing is not part of the nationally commissioned TDM service. The cost per sample is £20.
In order to gather clinical data regarding the benefits of vedolizumab drug level testing, please complete and enclose a completed request form with each sample. This information will be used to try and secure UKAS accreditation for vedolizumab drug level testing. Vedolizumab Request Audit Form.
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Clyde Biochemistry Laboratories (those based at Royal Alexandra Hospital, Inverclyde Royal Hospital and Vale of Leven Hospital) has been accredited with UKAS to standard ISO 15189:2012 for much of our test repertoire. The certificate of accreditation is available online.
The scope of our accreditation includes the majority of the tests performed by our laboratories, with a small number of tests not falling within our accreditation status (for example, no fluid analyses (on fluids other than CSF, urine or blood / serum / plasma) are accredited) – see the link above for details of our accredited scope.
Specialist services including Protein Electrophoresis and less often requested endocrine assays are based at RAH.
All routine GP work within the Clyde Sector is also based at RAH.
Please accept our apologies for the behaviour of links on this webpage. This is due to a global setting which is outwith the Biochemistry Department’s control.
We are committed to providing a quality service to users. If you wish to provide feedback on the Clyde Glasgow Biochemistry service, please contact our Quality Manager by emailing Pamela.craig@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
Full details of the services provided by other Scottish Genomic Network Laboratories, including request forms, can be found on the Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh laboratory websites.
A list of all genomic tests commissioned by NHS England for rare and inherited disorders, and cancer can be found in The National Genomic Test Directory.
Please note the laboratory is currently experiencing backlogs to analysis and reporting for routine germline karyotyping, microarray and Hereditary Haemochromatosis. We endeavour to clear this backlog as soon as possible (20/10/2023).
Sending a sample for Genetic testing
Each request accepted by the laboratory for testing is considered an agreement between the user and laboratory. Please see the Terms and Conditions of Service
Sample acceptance criteria / mandatory information
Either a completed request form or a detailed letter must be sent with each patient sample. Forms can also be requested by telephoning the department on 0141 354 9300 or downloaded from the list using ‘Request Forms (Germline and Somatic)’ tab below.
As a minimum, two pieces of patient identifying information must be provided on both the form and the sample container, e.g. name and CHI number. Specimens may be rejected if the form and the sample container do not have the same 2 patient identifiers.
For clinical users that wish to request further genetic testing for patients where we already have an appropriate specimen in the laboratory, the Further Analysis Request Form needs to be filled in. This will automatically send the request to the genetics laboratory. The request will be actioned by the laboratory or someone from the laboratory will contact the referring clinician if there are any issues or if further information is required.
Accreditation and Quality Management
The Laboratory Genetics department is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ISO 15189:2012 standards. The scope of accredited services are listed within our UKAS schedule of accreditation.
As part of our quality management system and to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our users, we are always keen to receive any comments you may have regarding the quality of the service we provide and would welcome any suggestions on ways in which we might be able to improve the service. If you are not satisfied with any aspect of the service, please contact the Quality Manager.
Haemato-oncology send away tests – all referrals for specialist testing must be sent via Laboratory Genetics for processing and forwarding to appropriate test centre
Laboratory Genetics forms part of the West of Scotland Centre for Genomic Medicine and is co-located with the Clinical Genetics Service at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. The Laboratory provides a comprehensive diagnostic genetic service for the patients of the West of Scotland (population >2.7 million) and offers specialised testing to the whole of Scotland, the UK and overseas.
The laboratory is a member of the Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine, with laboratories also located in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh. The Laboratory Services are funded by National Services Division of NHS Scotland (NSD) and are commissioned to work together to provide a comprehensive genetics service to the patients of Scotland.
Our Services
The department offers Germline and Somatic testing, full details of which can be found under the Information for Healthcare Professionals link.
For Clinical Genetics please call 0141 354 9200 (internal 59200)
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, from 8.30am – 5.00pm
The laboratory does not offer an out of hours service but it may be possible to arrange the analysis of urgent samples out with these times, by prior arrangement. The department is closed during public holidays.
Arranging a Hospital Autopsy (Post-Mortem Examination)
Post-Mortem Authorisation Form
In September 2006 the Scottish Government introduced a national authorisation form for post-mortem examinations. By law this is the only “consent form” that can be accepted. The authorisation form, together with two types of information leaflets and a summary form are contained within a distinctive dark blue sleeve for adults and a pale green one for children and infants.
Current guidelines recommend that only senior medical staff should obtain authorisation. Junior doctors or ward staff should act as witnesses.
It is important that the authorisation form is completed correctly; otherwise the post mortem may not be carried out.
The nearest relative, or a nominated person must be given the top (white) copy and the other two copies (pink and blue) are retained.
The form is a legal document and must not be altered without the relatives consent. Any changes must be made by having all three copies together and only writing on the top white copy to ensure that all the forms are identical.
Post-Mortem Examination
Small samples of tissue, for histological purposes only, will be retained in every post-mortem to confirm macroscopic findings unless consent for this is withheld.
Detailed neuropathological examination of the brain is best done if the organ is first immersed in formalin for three weeks. If the patient has died due to a complex neurological disorder (e.g. MS, dementia, Parkinson’s disease) and it is considered that examination of the brain is very important, then specific permission to retain the brain after the post-mortem should be obtained and noted in section 2A and 2B of the authorisation form.
In cases where there is an infectious risk to those handling the body after death (i.e. pathologists, mortuary technicians, undertakers) e.g. deaths from tuberculosis, AIDS, hepatitis B or C etc. the body must be transported to the mortuary in a cadaver bag with “danger of infection” stickers attached and clearly visible.
In cases of “bodies donated to medical science” or any other issue, please contact the mortuary staff.
Delivery of Request Authorisation Form to the Pathology Department
Authorisation forms are available from the mortuary offices during working hours and from the booking in areas in every mortuary.
Wards should arrange for collection/delivery of authorisation forms together with the summary and case records. Do not use internal mail.
All post mortems will be carried out within the mortuary at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, with all adult NHS post mortems being carried out on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.
Reporting Autopsy Findings
On completion of the autopsy the pathologist will contact the requesting clinician and where practical invite them to come and discuss the findings in the mortuary at their earliest convenience. If the requesting clinician is unable to attend the mortuary, then a summary of the finding is provided via email.
A preliminary autopsy report is dispatched to the Consultant in charge of the patient within three working days of the autopsy. Case notes are normally returned with the full PM report within 3-4 weeks.
Copies of the final report, which includes histological findings, are sent to the patient’s GP and hospital consultant usually within two weeks (this can be longer if additional tests are required) of the autopsy.
Fiscal Post Mortems
Deaths must be discussed with the procurator fiscal under the following circumstances:
Uncertified death
Any death which was caused by an accident due to the operation of a vehicle, or which was caused by an aircraft or rail accident.
Any death associated with employment, by accident, industrial disease or poisoning.
Any death due to poisoning (coal gas, barbiturate, etc.).
Any death where the circumstances would seem to indicate suicide.
Any death where there are indications that it occurred under an anaesthetic.
Any death resulting from an accident in the home, hospital or institution or any public place.
Any death following abortion.
Any death apparently caused by neglect (malnutrition).
Any death occurring in prison or a police cell where the deceased was in custody at the time of death.
Any death of a new-born child whose body is found.
Any death (occurring not in a house) where the deceased’s residence is unknown.
Death by drowning.
Death of a child from suffocation (including overlaying).
Where a death occurred as a result of smallpox or typhoid.
Any death as a result of fire or explosion.
Any sudden and unexplained death.
Any other death due to violent, suspicious or unexplained cause.
Deaths of foster children.
Any complaint concerning care or treatment of the deceased noted by nursing or medical staff.
Do not issue a death certificate until the case has been discussed with Fiscal.
If the Fiscal decides to instruct a post mortem, the body will be removed to QEUH Mortuary. Fiscal post mortems are carried out 5 days per week.
Request for Pacemaker/Loop Recorder/Other Cardiac Device Removal
A pacemaker or other metal containing cardiac device must be removed from a body prior to cremation. This can be done by the technical staff in the mortuary at the QEUH provided that written consent from relatives for removal and retention has been obtained and delivered to the QEUH mortuary prior to the body being released to the funeral director. This service is not generally available at other mortuaries. If the pacemaker has not been removed the MCCD must indicate that a pacemaker is in situ.
Examination of the Body by a Clinician
Clinicians wishing to view remains should phone the mortuary staff to arrange a time to visit the mortuary and conduct a viewing.
Contacts:
Mortuary Operations Manager
0141 451 5815
Mortuary Scheduling and Performance Manager
0141 451 5795
Mortuary Contact Numbers:
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH)
0141 354 9357
Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI)
0141 201 3186
Gartnavel General Hospital (GGH) – Enquiries should be directed to QEUH mortuary
0141 354 9357
Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH)
0141 314 6648
Inverclyde Royal Hospital (IRH)
01475 504 301
Vale of Leven (VOL) – Enquiries should be directed to QEUH mortuary
