Our services

Overseen by our highly skilled experts, our Blood Sciences department operates a vast test repertoire across all our sites. We provide services through core laboratories, as well as Essential Services Laboratories (ESLs) and specialist services located in selected areas which provide rapid results to critical clinical services.

Around 70% of south east London’s pathology services are now delivered from our hub in Blackfriars. This is complemented by our hospital-based services, including ESLs at each of the hospitals, focusing on the rapid turnaround of urgent tests (four hours or less), for example for accident and emergency (A&E) departments.

Our Central Specimen Reception (CSR) teams operate across each of the sites in our network. They process hundreds of thousands of patient samples each month, playing a crucial role in getting all samples we process where they need to be, when they need to be there.

All samples being sent to CSR must adhere to sample transport standards which can found in our test directory listings.

Samples delivered by hand and those that are urgent or sensitive must be signed in on the delivery sheet which will then be counter-signed by the receiving member of the CSR team. This will ensure that the mandatory sample acceptance requirements are adhered to and will allow us to process the sample as quickly as possible.

Working with the South East Genomic Medicine Service, one of seven Genomic Medicine Services across England, we serve a population of 8.5 million people across Kent, Medway, Surrey, Sussex and South London.

Our team operates at the cutting edge of genetic testing. Our scientists not only provide diagnostic information which guides patient care, they also, through research and development, are changing the face of genomics. Through innovation like our development of a PCR test for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and as one of three leading providers of Circulating Tumour DNA (ctDNA) testing, we’re delivering crucial diagnostic information faster, empowering clinicians to make decisions about treatment when it matters most.

Our service spans rare and inherited diseases, solid tumour testing, cellular pathology, haematological malignancy, and pharmacogenomic testing.

We are a national and international referral centre for Molecular Haemostasis and Thrombosis, with one of the largest repertoires of genes involved in disorders of coagulation, and the largest national provider of pharmacogenomic testing for rare disease. We are also the national reference laboratory for haemato-oncology, the national referral centre for Epidermolysis Bullosa testing, and one of the leading transplantation and HLA laboratories in the UK.

Our infection sciences laboratories perform hundreds of thousands of specialist and routine investigations each year and provide a fully integrated, consultant-led, service for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infections.

Our Essential Services Laboratories (ESL) carry out rapid on-site processing for urgent microbiology pathways and support rapid local workflows, while the team in our hub process the majority of our work. In virology, ESLs deliver site-specific rapid testing, while all extended molecular diagnostics, viral loads, sequencing and specialist genotyping is handled by our hub. Once initial processing, rapid assays or essential stabilisation steps are completed locally, routine cultures, complex organism work-ups, susceptibility testing, molecular assays and all specialist virology investigations are transferred seamlessly to the hub, ensuring timely results alongside full analytical depth and standardised diagnostic support across the network.

We operate Phlebotomy, or blood testing, departments across our London hospital sites and local Community GP based services within Southwark and Lambeth. We also provide a specialist paediatric service based at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Working closely with clinicians and our laboratories, our phlebotomy teams help ensure timely, reliable test results that support high‑quality patient care.

Find out more about these services here.

Our Reference services department is made up of multiple laboratories involved in specialised or complex analysis, expert consultation, and confirmation of difficult diagnoses.

Our service users operate across a wide range of specialisms, including paediatric and adult metabolic investigations, donor and recipient organ transplantation compatibility, toxicology and trace elements analysis, nutritional assessment, research and development, therapeutic drug monitoring and immunology.

These services are a crucial resource for clinicians, providing targeted analysis using a variety of advanced techniques. By providing confirmatory testing, method development, and clinical consultation, our reference chemistry teams play a critical role in supporting diagnostic accuracy and managing rare or complex conditions.

Tissue Sciences play a central role in pathology testing in the UK, underpinning the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of a wide range of diseases, particularly cancer. Our teams work on the examination of human tissue, processing them through fixation, embedding, sectioning and staining.

They analyse tissue architecture and cellular detail using light microscopy, supported by advanced methods including immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation and digital pathology. These techniques allow the clinicians we support to determine tumour type, grade and margins, identify biomarkers that guide targeted therapies, and assess inflammatory, degenerative or infectious disease processes with a high degree of accuracy.