Welcome to NHS Forth Valley Pathology Labs webpage. Here you can find out more about our service and the tests we offer. If you are unable to find the information you are looking for, please email fv.pathologyfvrh@nhs.scot.
Pathology focuses on the study of diagnosis of disease at microscopic level. There are 3 main areas in the department:
- Histology is the examination of surgically removed organs or biopsies
- Cytology is the examination of fluids
- The mortuary provides a body storage and post mortem service for the hospital and Procurator Fiscal
- Andrology service examines semen as part of fertility investigations. Samples post vasectomy are also sent to the department to be examined to ensure that the procedure has been successful.
Except for the andrology service all reporting of samples is carried out by Consultant Pathologists. Andrology samples are reported by trained and competent BMS staff who have been authorised to report them.
If you are a healthcare provider, please refer to our full Pathology User Manual on the Staff net. If you are unable to access this, please contact fv.pathologyfvrh@nhs.scot.
If you require information in a different format or have accessibility needs and require support, please contact fv.equality@nhs.scot.
Tests
The role of the department is to examine tissue and fluids at microscope level to diagnose disease.
Samples are triaged in the department and processed and reported based on clinical need.
Your care provider should be able to tell you when your report will be available.
UKAS Accreditation
The pathology laboratory at Forth Valley Royal Hospital is currently UKAS accredited in accordance with International Standard ISO 15189:2012 Medical Laboratories – Requirements for Quality and Competence. Our laboratory number is 9105.
The Pathology Department acknowledges that each request accept by the laboratory for examination(s) shall be considered an agreement.
A robust risk management process is in place in line with NHS Forth Valley with an aim to ensure there is an ongoing assessment and monitoring of risks in all examinations performed within Pathology. Any identified risks and effectiveness of the mitigation processes are monitored and evaluated according to the potential harm to the patient. Any residual risk that cannot be mitigated will be communicated to users.
The full list of accredited tests can be viewed here on the UKAS website.
Quality Assurance
Pathology has a fully embedded Quality Management System which provides assurance by way of external audit by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) that the service we provide is of a very high standard and that patient and user safety and wellbeing is at the core of service delivery.
Location and Contact Details
Address: Pathology Department, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Stirling Road, Larbert, FK5 4WR
Email: fv.pathologyfvrh@nhs.scot.
Switchboard: Forth Valley Royal Hospital 01324 566000
The laboratory operating hours:
- Monday to Friday 8:30am – 5:00pm (Labs)
- Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm (Mortuary)
- Saturdays and Sundays – Closed
- Public Holidays – reduced service 0800-17:00
- Christmas Day and New Years Day – closed
Please note that we cannot provide results or specific enquiries to your sample(s). The best way to get help, or if you have a concern or query, is to contact your clinical team or GP. Lab results often require the interpretation of a range of factors associated with your clinical care.
Our department is also unable to arrange private sample testing or reporting, this is not a service we offer directly to patients. Testing can only be arranged via your registered health care practitioner.
Consent
Please note that the pathology laboratory considers all specimens received have been sent with the necessary consents to carry out the requested tests. Your GP or healthcare Provider will have explained the test/ process to you and asked for your consent.
Certain liver biopsies are sent for specialist reporting to the Pathology Department in Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Eye samples are sent to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. The department may send away your sample to external laboratories for genetic testing or for specialist opinions. The interim and final reports will reflect this and be issued as soon as possible and remain the responsibility of the clinical team.
There may be occasions during times of low staffing that we may have to send your samples to be processed and/or reported by an external private laboratory. If this does happen the department has a mechanism in place to let the Forth Valley clinical teams know this. We ensure that any external laboratory that we use follows the same governance principles as the NHS around sample transport, patient confidentiality and that their staff have the correct qualifications. We also monitor turnaround times for the provider.
The department has strict specimen acceptance criteria. If on occasion samples do not meet these criteria, then the person who is responsible for your care will be asked to come the laboratory to rectify this. If this is not possible then a report will be issued stating what the issue is. Any issues with sample acceptance are recorded and investigated using the Pathology and NHS Forth Valley incident reporting systems.
Post Mortem examinations are carried out under instruction of the procurator fiscal. Any queries concerning a Fiscal Postmortem can be directed to sfiueast@copfs.gov.uk. If you have any queries concerning a hospital Post Mortem that has been carried out, then please contact the clinical team who was responsible for the patient’s care.
The department runs a semen analysis clinic for fertility investigation. If you require this service, please speak to your GP and if required they will be able to request an appointment at the clinic. A sample container and patient instructions along with your appointment will be mailed to you.
If you have had a vasectomy, then the nursing staff at day surgery will be able to provide you with a container and advise when to hand the sample in. Please note samples for post vasectomy analysis are handed into outpatients area 4 on a Monday only. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept specimens any other day.
Along with our colleagues in dermatology we provide both Biomedical Scientist and Consultant Pathologist support to a Mohs clinic. The Mohs clinic provides a service to patients with a type of skin cancer to ensure that all the cancer is removed before they leave the hospital.
Data Protection
NHS Forth Valley has robust policies in place to protect the information we hold about patients and staff.
All staff including those in the pathology laboratory, are trained in matters surrounding confidentiality at induction and continued professional training. This understanding of confidentiality and data protection is further reinforced by professional registration bodies such as HCPC, IBMS and GMC which govern our staff.
Only clinicians involved in the care of an individual should discuss the results with Pathology.
Duty of Candour
On 1 April 2018 the government introduced organisational Duty of Candour. The overall purpose of the new duty is to ensure that organisations are open, honest and supportive when there is an unexpected or unintended incident resulting in death or harm. This organisational responsibility is in addition to GMC guidance on the matter for doctors, NMC guidance for nurses and health and care professions council for biomedical scientists.
This duty requires organisations to follow a Duty of Candour procedure which will include:
- notifying the person affected,
- apologising and offering a meeting to give an account of what happened,
- reviewing the incident, and
- offering support to those affected.
Feedback
Even though Pathology cannot answer specific enquiries on your sample directly or give out reports to you, the laboratory welcomes feedback from patients. To give feedback, including compliments and complaints, please email fv.pathologyfvrh@nhs.scot. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 7 working days of receipt. Following this all complaints will be investigated in confidence and a letter outlining our findings will follow when the investigation is completed.
If you have already contacted Pathology directly and are unhappy, then please contact Patient Relations. They are a branch of the NHS Forth Valley Person Centred Care Directorate and are responsible for coordinating responses to complaints, compliments and feedback from patients and communities. The patient relations team are based in FVRH and can be contacted via fv.complaints@nhs.scot.
Further details about the compliments and complaints department are available on the Compliments & Complaints page.