Cellular Pathology

Cellular Pathology is assessed by the national pathology accreditation body United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) against ISO 15189:2022 standards.

Diagnostic cytology (non-gynae)

For specimen and container requirements see the test catalogue.

User guide for preparation of direct smears for Diagnostic Cytology [pdf] 110KB

Diagnostic cytology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells from people. It is commonly performed by examining cells under a light microscope, which have been stained and mounted on a microscope slide

Urgent requests are defined as those essential for the management of the patient.

These should be highlighted by the requesting clinician by writing ‘Urgent’ on the request form together with a contact telephone number.

Cases are reported by specialty teams in Cellular Pathology and the turnaround target is seven days from sample taking to result issued.

Frozen sections

All frozen sections must be pre-booked by calling 01622 227468.

Frozen section guidelines [pdf] 138KB

The laboratory requires 48 hours notice to ensure availability of key lab staff, a reporting consultant and readiness of the necessary equipment.

Histology

Formalin fixed specimens sent for investigation are only kept for six weeks after the case has been reported before disposal.

After this time only processed wax blocks and slides are available for further review.

There will be occasions during treatment when the reported pathology is insufficient for patient management. Contact the reporting pathologist immediately to discuss additional investigations.

Referral centres used by MTW Cellular Pathology

Occasionally material may be referred to an alternative centre in order to obtain the opinion of a recognised expert in a field, or for rarely performed/specialist testing. There is a list of referral centres we use: 

Cellular pathology referral centres [pdf] 292KB

In order to determine that all referral centres meet the requirements of this Department’s quality management system regular requests are sent out to all referral centres used in the past year asking for that laboratory’s:

  • ISO status
  • EQA performance
  • Performance with regard to their published turnaround time.

When the report is received from the referral laboratory, it is added to the MTW report as a supplementary report, clearly identified as being performed by a referral laboratory or consultant.

MTW consultants remain responsible for ensuring the examination results of the referral laboratory are provided to the requesting clinician. Please email requests for reports, slides or blocks to mtw-tr.Histoffice@nhs.net