Blood Bank

Preferred Sample Type

Group and Save / Crossmatch

Suitable Specimen Types

EDTA Whole Blood

Group and Save / Crossmatch

Specimen Volume

4mL

Specimen Transport

Standard transport to laboratory.

Sample Preparation

Please refer to the trust guidelines on sample collection and labelling.

Sample Processing In Laboratory

Sample should be centrifuged

Sample Stability

Up to 7 days depending on patients transfusion history.

General Information

For more information please see:

https://labtestsonline.org.uk/tests/blood-typing
https://labtestsonline.org.uk/tests/red-blood-cell-rbc-antibody-screen

Patient Preparation

Pre-op samples for a patient with antibodies need to be sent to the department at least 24 hours before the procedure.

Notes

Further samples may be required for antibody identification. Routinely if patients do not have abnormal red blood cell antibodies, blood can be issued electronically (EI).

Urgent crossmatch has a 45 mins turnaround time - Call blood bank to inform them of urgent requests for blood.

Routine crossmatch has a 24 hours turnaround time.

Group and save has a 24 hour turnaround time.

Additional time may be needed to provide blood for patients with complex antibodies which require further investigation. Multiple antibodies, antibodies showing complex dosage, results that cannot be identified from the profile, and positive DAT require 4 x EDTA samples requested from the ward to send to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for further investigation.

Blood bank operate a zero tolerance policy for sample acceptance criteria, samples which do not fully meet labelling criteria will not be accepted.

Please see http://uhbpolicies/blood-transfusion.htm for further information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specifications

  • EQA Status: NEQAS
  • EQAS Scheme: Yes

Creation Date

Monday, 08 August 2011

Modification Date

Friday, 28 November 2025

General Information

General information about the website and its content

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Location of Laboratories

Where the laboratories are located and information about the services offered at each laboratory

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Copyright UHB Pathology 2025

Protection of Personal Information – Pathology Laboratories Services comply with the Trust Data Protection Policy and have procedures in place to allow the Directorate and it’s employees to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and associated best practice and guidance.

The laboratories at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Solihull Hospital form part of the services provided by University Hospitals Birmingham and are UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited to the ISO 15189:2022 standard. For a list of accredited tests and other information please visit the UKAS website using the following link: https://www.ukas.com/find-an-organisation/ 

  • Molecular Pathology is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No. 8759
  • Biochemistry is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No. 8910
  • Haematology and Transfusion is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No. 8784
  • Clinical Microbiology is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No. 8760
  • Cellular Pathology is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No. 10141
  • United Kingdom Health Security Agency laboratory is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No.8213

Tests not appearing on the UKAS Schedule of Accreditation currently remain outside of our scope of accreditation. However, these tests have been validated to the same high standard as accredited tests and are performed by the same trained and competent staff.

For further test information, please visit the test database: https://qehbpathology.uk/test-database 

For further information contact Louise Fallon, Quality Manager, 0121 371 5962/ 0121 424 1235