3.3 Handling and transporting specimens correctly

Generally, samples should reach the laboratory with no delay, and ideally within two hours. Prolonged transportation may result in the death of fastidious bacteria and overgrowth/colonising of other bacteria.

The hospital administration may need to organise appropriate courier services to ensure that samples arrive in the laboratory within the required time if the laboratory is not close to the hospital. If it is necessary to store a sample, appropriate storage facilities such as fridges need to be made available and accessible. The clinical and laboratory administration may need to discuss who should take responsibility for maintenance and security of storage facilities and transport.

The laboratory needs to have reception facilities and procedures (including verification that a sample is appropriate), and should immediately inform the clinician if the sample is not adequate, explaining the reasons so that the sample can be collected again. Inappropriate samples should be rejected, since they will give no useful information and could provide misleading information. Local standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be developed for rejection criteria and clinicians should be informed on the requirements for submitting samples for testing.