Department of Histopathology

The department of Histopathology is based in North Wing, level 3 together with other sections of Pathology. The services the department provides are as follows:

• Histopathology
• Specimen Collection, Storage and Transport
• Department Turnaround Times
• Specimens processed outside of the department
• Second Opinion, Special Stains and Immunohistochemistry
• Frozen Sections
• Cytology
• Gynaecological Cytology Specimens
• Non-Gynaecological Cytology Specimens
• Andrology
• Histopathology Contact Details

Histopathology

The Histopathology laboratory is open from 7.00am – 18:00pm Monday-Friday. Please note the Histopathology department is not open outside working office hours and also not open during weekends or bank holidays.
Histopathology is the microscopical analysis of diseased tissues. The purpose is to provide a tissue diagnosis, which is the gold standard for medical diagnosis and allows a patient's prognosis and treatment to be decided.

Specimen Collection, Storage and Transport

All specimens taken either at a GP surgery or in hospital should normally be transferred to the department in formalin fixative. Formalin pots can be obtained from the department of Histopathology. Larger specimens from surgical operations are similarly fixed in formalin and transferred to the department in large plastic containers. In the event of a large formalin spillage please contact the laboratory for advice and/or assistance. The telephone number is 01305 254306.

All tissue samples submitted to the Histopathology Department must be in a container clearly labeled with the patients details and have a pathology request form completed alongside it, clearly indicating the request for Histopathology services (There is a tick-box on the right of the form for Histopathology). The form must also clearly display all patient identifiable information in addition to information regarding the nature of the specimen, any relevant clinical information and the requesting clinicians details.

PLEASE NOTE: ANY SAMPLES RECEIVED WITHOUT A FULLY COMPLETED REQUEST FORM AND CLEAR LABELING OF PATIENT DETAILS ON THE SPECIMEN POT WILL BE RETURNED TO THE ORIGINATOR FOR AMENDMENT; THIS WILL CAUSE DELAYS IN SPECIMEN PROCESSING.

Theatre support workers and porter staff are on hand to collect samples from source within DCH and deliver them either directly to the Histopathology Cut-Up room for signed receipt, or the main pathology specimen reception (Both locations can be found on Level 3 of the North Wing).

For those samples being transported from outside the hospital, there are pool cars providing daily pathology transport links between the local health centres/community hospitals and the main pathology reception at DCH.

Department Turnaround Times

The following table lists the departments’ targets for turnaround of work from receipt of specimen to final report.

Second Opinion, Special Stains and Immunohistochemistry

Please be aware that the Histopathology department has a repertoire of special stains and immunohistochemistry treatments used for demonstration of pathology; these types of stains can take a further 1-2 working days and may be required on some of the more difficult cases to assist in diagnosis, thus delaying the submission of final reports. In addition to this, some of the cases that are more difficult to diagnose may be sent away to an external expert for second opinion.

Specimens processed outside of the department

The following specimens are sent away for processing on a daily basis:
Skin Immunofluorescence – St. Thomas’ Hospital in London
Kidney Biopsies – South mead Hospital in Bristol

Frozen sections

For this service the department should normally be alerted prior to the date of the operation so that appropriate planning can be arranged. Should the tissue be of an infectious nature, the department are unable to accept it for frozen processing.
N.B. Tissue for frozen section should be sent directly to the department unfixed, i.e. in a dry pot with no fixative present.
 

Cytology

Opening hours 8am- 4pm Monday – Friday.
Cytology is the study of cells for screening programmes and for diagnosis. It is divided into two main sections, gynaecological and non-gynaecological.

Gynaecological Cytology

Cervical cells are collected in a pot containing a special fluid for liquid based cytology. These pots can be ordered from Taunton Hospital, Cytology Department as all gynae cytology screening is done there.
Contact telephone number at Taunton Cytology Department is 01823 343186 and Fax number is 01823 343185.

Non-Gynaecological Cytology Specimens

The majority of non-gynae specimens are collected at the hospital and smaller numbers at GP Surgery. Most of these specimens are sputum, bronchial lavage, urine and other fluids collected in sterile universal pots. For fine needle aspirates, smears are made by the GP or clinician directly onto glass slides. Two smears are air-dried and two are fixed using spray fixative. The needle is then washed in a universal container filled with cytospin collection fluid, which can be obtained from the Pathology Department before the procedure is carried out.
Dorset County Hospital drivers collect pathology specimens from the GP Surgeries.
 

Andrology

Opening hours 8am – 1pm, Monday – Thursday.
Andrology is the study of spermatozoa in a semen sample. This study is carried out for infertility and as a check on patients who have undergone vasectomy.
Please note the following instructions for semen samples.
For best results, ejaculation should not have occurred for at least two days before the test specimen is produced.

• The patient should not have passed urine during the previous hour.
• The specimen must be obtained by hand (masturbation) directly into the container (do not use a sheath).
• The whole specimen should be collected, especially the first few drops.
• The specimen must arrive at the laboratory within 30-60 minutes of production.
• The specimen must be kept at warm body temperature during transportation.
• The patient should ensure that he uses the sterile specimen pot provided by the clinic or GP Surgery.

Please ensure that the lid of the container is screwed on tightly and that your name (and your partner’s name if the specimen is for infertility), date and time of the collection are written on the label of the pot and on the request form; without this information, the sample cannot be accepted.

Take the specimen to:
Department of Pathology,
North Wing, Level 3,
Dorset County Hospital,
Williams Avenue,
Dorchester.

Note: Specimens can only be received between 8am-1pm from Monday–Thursday.

On arrival at reception please give your specimen container to a member of staff and ask them to notify the relevant department. (Cytology/Andrology).
For all the above specimens please make sure that all specimen pots and request forms are labeled correctly giving relevant clinical information. Having done this put both the specimen and request form in the specimen bag.
Please note the Histopathology department is not open outside working office hours and also not open during weekends or bank holidays.
  

Histopathology Contact Details

Histopathology Intranet Page – Version 4, Dec. 2010