GENERAL INFORMATION

Obtaining results or clinical advice

The Medical Microbiologists cover the UHSM, Withington Community Hospital and local GPs. To help us, it would be appreciated if the following were noted:

Providing clinical information and an accurate description of the nature of the specimen are important for correct processing and reporting by the laboratory. . Please indicate clearly on the request form if there is a history of foreign travel.

• Preliminary culture results are available 24 hours after specimen receipt (at the earliest), and sensitivities usually after a further 24 hours. For 'special' samples such as blood cultures and CSF, the microbiologist will inform the clinicians of initial significant results as soon as they are known.

• Culture plates are read by the biomedical lab staff in the morning, but please give the staff some time to do this.

• Most results should be available by 11.30am.

• For microbiology results and assays, please check Sunquest Ice in the first instance. In cases of difficulty or for further clarification, the lab enquiry number is 4819.

• Please refer to the antibiotic guidelines in the first instance for the commoner microbiology enquiries regarding treatment.

• New or junior doctors should discuss queries with their own clinical team, before calling the Medical Microbiologist.

• For Medical Microbiology advice for the more complicated cases, the medical Microbiology team should be contacted on extensions 2885 or 4754, or via switchboard.

• For infection control advice alone, the infection control nurses can be contacted on extension 2630 or bleep via switch during routine working hours.