The Biochemistry laboratories, part of the Blood Sciences Department, are based at both Wexham Park Hospital and the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
The laboratories are proud to offer a service and use equipment that is accredited to international standards to give you confidence that the results that you receive are reliable and robust. There are some factors which are beyond the control of the laboratory which may cause problems with blood tests, including medications and supplements. In addition, a very small minority of individual patients may react atypically to particular assays. We rely on our users to notify us of any results which are clinically unlikely – as the healthcare professional ordering the test you may be in possession of clinical information which makes a result dis-believable. In the laboratory we have access to a very limited amount of clinical information and while we will always do our best to identify any incorrect results before they reach you, we may have no reason to be suspicious of a result which appears very wrong to you. We would always ask that in the event that you receive an unexpected result or a result which does not fit with the clinical picture, you contact the Duty Biochemist to discuss the result. We may be able to offer an interpretation of the result, or to suggest a possible interferent which could be causing a spurious result. We are always grateful for feedback on any aspect of our service, including the technical and clinical service we offer.