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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
The Histopathology laboratory is open from 7.30am – 4.30pm 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 All specimens taken either at a GP surgery or in hospital should normally be transferred to the department in formalin. 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. Department Turnaround Times The following table lists the departments’ targets for turnaround of work from receipt of specimen to final report. Please note that those cases which are more difficult to diagnose may take a longer period of time to report due to slides being sent away for a second opinion or additional immunohistochemistry requests/special stains which may be required to assist the diagnosis.
Symptomatic Diagnostic Biopsies
| Turnaround Target
| Prostatic Core Biopsies
| Ready for next MDT providing the specimen was received 3-5 working days before the meeting
| Breast Core Biopsies
| Ready for next MDT providing the specimen was received 3-5 working days before the meeting
| Gastrointestinal biopsies for cancer
| Ready for next MDT providing the specimen was received 3-5 working days before the meeting
| Liver Biopsies
| 5 - 15 working days - a second opinion is often provided by Dr Millward-Sadler outside the hospital
| Bone Marrow Trephine
| Haematology request - 3-5 working days
| Cervix biopsy
| 5 working days
| Temporal Artery Biopsy
| 48 hours
| Lymph Nodes
| 5 working days
| ENT biopsies
| 5 working days
| Bladder Biopsy
| Ready for next MDT providing the specimen was received 3-5 working days before the meeting
| Endometrial Biopsy
| 5 working days
| Kidney Biopsy
| SLA with Southmead Hospital - Bristol
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| Surveillance/non-symptomatic Diagnostic Biopsies
| Turnaround Target
| Skin - Immunofluorescence
| SLA with St. Thomas' Hospital - London
| Gastrointestinal biopsies
| 10 - 15 working days
| ENT biopsies
| 10 working days
| Bladder Biopsy
| 10 working days
| Endometrial Biopsy
| 10 working days
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| | Excision Biopsies for cancer
| Turnaround Target
| Melanoma
| 10 working days with double reporting
| Other skin cancers
| 15 working days
| LLETZ (Cervix)
| Following week MDT
| Breast
| Following week MDT
| Colon/Rectum & Upper GI
| Following week MDT
| Thyroid/Parathyroid
| 5 working days
| Uterus
| Following week MDT
| Whole Kidney
| Following week MDT
| Prostatectomy
| Following week MDT
| Bladder TUR
| Following week MDT
| Femoral Head
| 15 working days
| Salivary Gland
| 5 working days
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| | Excision Biopsies for non-cancer
| Turnaround Target
| Placenta
| 10 working days
| Colon
| 10 working days
| Kidney
| 10 working days
| Prostate TUR
| 10 working days
| Appendix
| 10 working days
| Gallbladder
| 10 working days
| Lipoma
| 10 working days
| Vasectomy
| 10 working days
| Haemorrhoids
| 10 working days
| Products of Conception
| 10 working days
| Uterus
| 10 working days
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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 – Southmead 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 labelled 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
Department
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| Telephone
| Opening Hours
| Histopathology Secretarial Office:
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| 01305 254301
| 8.30-5.30 Monday-Friday
| Lead Consultant Pathologist Dr. D'Arrigo
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| 01305 254302
| 8.30-5.00 Monday-Friday
| Head BMS/Laboratory Manager Ashmita Jagjivan
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| 01305 254307 or 01305 254306
| 7.30-5.00 Monday-Friday
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Histopathology Intranet Page – Version 3, 2010
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