Policy statement and Notes on the use of the Services

  1. We are committed to a high quality professional service that seeks to meet the needs of practice.
  2. All work is carried out under veterinary supervision and interpretation of results is by veterinarians who are trained and experienced in the laboratory disciplines.
  3. Diagnostic laboratory work is performed by full-time qualified technicians and we work closely with University veterinary clinical staff, so that we maintain current, active contact with clinical work.
  4. We participate in independent external quality assurance programmes in bacteriology and histology.
  5. Trainees’ work is overseen by senior, qualified pathologists and their reports are checked before being signed off.
  6. Reports are signed by the pathologist or trainee who is responsible for the case and who makes the diagnosis or suggests the clinical implications. For cases dealt with by a trainee, the supervising senior pathologist is mentioned in the form of his/her initials. In urgent surgical pathology cases the pathologist can telephone the referring veterinary surgeon as soon as the slides have been read (normally the day after receipt of the specimen). No extra charge is made for this service. The typed comprehensive report is immediately faxed or provided via email. Final, signed copies are sent by post.
  7. The diagnostic pathology service is a valuable regional resource, the income from which is used to support academic and veterinary professional work that is no longer funded by the University system.
  8. Your use of this service helps to support your regional veterinary school.

Notes on the use of the diagnostic pathology and microbiology service

The services are available on the basis of the following understanding:

  1. This is a consultancy service available to veterinary surgeons in general practice.
  2. Reports are issued to referring veterinary surgeons, who can then discuss the results with owners in the light of their own clinical knowledge of the case.
  3. Reports include a note of the consultation fee to be paid to the University of Liverpool. Requests for payment will be made to veterinary surgeons by the Finance Office on a monthly basis.
  4. Enquiries about monthly accounts submitted by the Finance Office should be directed to the Veterinary Laboratory Services Office, Tel. (0151) 795 6294 (direct line) and not to the Finance Office, which has no details of individual reports
  5. Submission forms are available from this office, but can also be found online at www.liv.ac.uk/vetpathology. Office hours are from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. At other times messages can be left on our answering machine (0151 795 6294).
  6. Please supply as much clinical information as possible: this enables us to provide a service that is clinically useful and helps us to accumulate pathological and micribiological data from a documented clinical background
  7. A list of currently available diagnostic items and fees is included. We are pleased to discuss with veterinary surgeons any investigations not listed.
  8. Pathology diagnostic responsibilities are divided between the Liverpool and Leahurst laboratories, according to the list overleaf. Please ensure that specimens and requests are directed to the appropriate laboratory so that they can be handled promptly