Sharing the Load of Faecal Calprotectin Sample Extraction

By Laura Bernstone, Principal Clinical Scientist, Clinical Biochemistry at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

“Clinical Biochemistry at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is based on two main sites. We have busy 24/7 laboratories at both Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham, which are located around 25 miles apart.

We have a significant faecal calprotectin workload, receiving up to 650 samples each month. GP patients account for the biggest proportion of these although we also receive a significant number from patients under the care of the Gastroenterology team, usually for monitoring patients with known inflammatory bowel disease. We are able to provide a turnaround time of 7 days from when the sample is received in the lab to the final reporting of the result…

…We use BÜHLMANN CALEX® Cap devices in order to perform the sample extraction. Once the extracts have been prepared at the Durham site, they are then transported to Darlington ready for analysis.”

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