Pathology cellular bags

February 6, 2024

Pathology are falling short of green cellular pathology bags in the labs. Please can any clinics and theatres that use these check whether there are any stray bags that are not circulating in the system, and if so return them to pathology.

At City site bags received by pathology are collected by a driver and taken to cellular pathology lab at Wolverhampton New Cross. We receive empty bags back that are then distributed to their locations by a porter.

At Sandwell, the system is similar but the returned empty bags are left in the consumables hub where they are collected by staff from the units. There should be enough bags in circulation to support this system, but pathology do often experience a shortage.

If colleagues are collecting an empty bag to use for their unit, they must only take ones that are labelled for their area. If you do not have enough bags please email simon.brown8@nhs.net.