Consultancy and Advice
The Senior Medical and Scientific staff of Microbiology laboratory provides expert advice on clinical, scientific and technical microbiological issues to users of the service.
The clinical service is consultant-led and available on a 24-hour basis to hospital clinicians and GPs.
Microbial Epidemiology and Surveillance
The Microbiology laboratory complies with national and local requirements for the surveillance of infectious diseases and reporting to the designated agency. Microbiology laboratory continues to monitor all organisms of public health significance. Antimicrobial resistance patterns are reviewed as required by the HPA and other national organisations. This information is held on a database, the use of which is available subject to the requirements of the Caldicott report.
Outbreak support
Support to the HPA Health Protection Units, CsCDC and Local Authority Environmental Health Departments is provided at two levels. Consultant staff provide expert clinical advice on specific infections and guidance on appropriate laboratory investigations. They also act as the local or regional microbiology co-ordinator. The Microbiology laboratory provides laboratory support for testing of specimens collected in the course of outbreak investigations. Staff are co-opted onto Outbreak Control Teams and attend outbreak review meetings. Senior staff are also expected to give advice and support to the work of other Agencies.
Emergency response
The Microbiology laboratory provides laboratory support in the event of microbiological emergencies, senior staff contribute to local and regional response plans.
Provision of expert advice
The Microbiology laboratory is a source of expert advice on Public Health microbiology, microbial epidemiology and outbreak control issues. This advice is available to colleagues within the wider HPA, Local Authority representatives, NHS Trusts and to other health professionals.
