All turn-around-times (TATs) for the tests we offer are provided in our price book. These TATs give you an indication of how long it will take to receive results back once we have received the samples in the laboratory.
All of our staff pride themselves on providing excellent service levels, and are constantly looking to better the stated TATs where possible. More often than not we are able to send out results same day for all tests that have a 1-day TAT, and if the results aren’t sent out same day, then they will be sent out within 24hrs of receipt. Even for samples arriving late in the day, we do our best to get the results to you before we close the lab for the evening.
“So when should we mark a sample as URGENT?” is something we are often asked. We recommend that if you require the results urgently due to a complicated or critical clinical presentation, then please clearly mark them URGENT on the submission form, and we will prioritise them on receipt. Some testing unfortunately cannot be hurried up, for example microbiology cultures or histology processing, but if we know you need the results ASAP, we can send preliminary reports and prioritise them for reading once they have been incubated and/ or processed.
If your testing is not clinically urgent, but you would nevertheless like your results as soon as possible, rest assured our aim on a daily basis is to provide them to you as soon as we can.
So please consider others before marking a case urgent if it really isn’t —because if routine cases are marked urgent, it makes it difficult for us to help look after the well-being of those animals that need it the most.