All questions are shown as received by the Trust.
1. Please table the hospitals or other acute sites currently submitting blood cultures and for each site-
i) Are blood cultures incubated and/or processed on site or sent to a microbiology laboratory off site?
ii) If incubated or processed off site, what is the distance in miles between the site and the offsite laboratory?
iii) How many blood culture sets were submitted from each site in 2022/23?
iv)Number of bed days for all patients per site
2. Does the Trust follow the UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations (SMI S12) in relation to Blood Cultures? YES/NO
3. Do you undertake formal compliance audits of the recommended pre-analytical standard for blood cultures of a four hour TAT from collection to incubation? YES/NO
4. What percentage of blood culture sets achieved this standard in the year 2022/23 at each site.
a. If full compliance with the pre analytical standard cannot be met, are clinicians made aware of the risk via a statement in the report on specimens which encountered delay?
5. What is the population served by the Trust?
6. What was the total expenditure on laboratory services (directorate of pathology) as a percentage of total Trust expenditure in the year 2022/23?
7. Please append a copy of your blood culture protocol or policy or other document which informs clinical staff when they should take a blood culture.

Microbiology laboratory service and blood cultures.301023.docx