1. Purpose

Patients trust the reports that carry the Consult Your Doctor format, so the company must be satisfied that every diagnostic centre is lawfully registered, properly accredited where that applies, and competent. This document sets out the checks to be completed and recorded before a centre is accepted, and the checks repeated each year.

2. Checklist before acceptance

3. Decision

The medical lead reviews the file and records one of three decisions: accepted, accepted with conditions (with a date for the conditions to be met), or refused. No centre is shown to patients until it is accepted.

4. Sample collection, handling and turnaround

The centre must collect, label, store and transport samples according to written procedures, using the right container for each test and recording the time of collection. It must tell the patient how to prepare, for example about fasting, and record whether the patient did so. Where samples are collected at the patient's home, the staff member must be trained, must verify the patient's identity before collection and must carry only the materials needed. The centre states the expected turnaround time for each test, and the platform shows it to the patient.

5. Report content standards

Each report must show the patient's name, age and sex, the sample identification, the collection and reporting times, the test name and method, the result with its unit, the reference range, any flag, any comment needed to understand the result, and the name, registration and signature of the professional who has approved it. A corrected report must be marked as corrected, give the reason, and replace the earlier report in the patient's record, with the earlier report kept.

6. Critical values

7. Performance monitoring

The medical lead reviews each centre every quarter, looking at turnaround times, corrected reports, critical value calls, complaints and the results of external quality assessment. A centre that fails to meet the standard is given a written improvement plan with dates. Repeated or serious failures lead to suspension.

8. Suspension and ending of the arrangement

A centre is suspended at once, and no new referrals are made, if its accreditation or registration lapses, if it gives false information, if there is a serious risk to patients or if it breaches data protection duties. The platform tells patients with pending tests, arranges for them to continue elsewhere and recovers the data, as the agreement with the centre requires.

9. Roles and responsibilities

10. Communication of results to patients

Results are delivered to the patient through the platform after the responsible professional has approved them. Critical or unexpected results are not released to the patient before the treating doctor has been told, and the doctor decides how and when to explain them. The platform reminds patients that a result must be read together with the advice of the doctor.

11. Confidentiality and data protection duties of centres

A centre may use patient information only to perform and report the tests, must keep it secure, must not pass it to anyone else without a lawful reason, must follow the Information Security and Access Control Policy (CYD-SEC-01) as far as it applies, and must tell the company at once of any loss or exposure of data. The data processing agreement sets out these duties in detail.

12. Fees and independence

Fees for tests are agreed in writing and shown to patients before they book. A centre must not give any benefit to a doctor for referring patients, and the company does not accept payments from a centre in return for preferred placement. Patients may always choose another centre.

13. Annual review

Every centre is re-checked each year. Expired accreditation or registration leads to immediate suspension. Complaints, reporting errors and delayed critical values are reviewed under the Adverse Event and Error Reporting Procedure (CYD-CLN-03).

14. Sign-off record

1. Purpose

Patients trust the reports that carry the Consult Your Doctor format, so the company must be satisfied that every diagnostic centre is lawfully registered, properly accredited where that applies, and competent. This document sets out the checks to be completed and recorded before a centre is accepted, and the checks repeated each year.

2. Checklist before acceptance

3. Decision

The medical lead reviews the file and records one of three decisions: accepted, accepted with conditions (with a date for the conditions to be met), or refused. No centre is shown to patients until it is accepted.

4. Sample collection, handling and turnaround

The centre must collect, label, store and transport samples according to written procedures, using the right container for each test and recording the time of collection. It must tell the patient how to prepare, for example about fasting, and record whether the patient did so. Where samples are collected at the patient's home, the staff member must be trained, must verify the patient's identity before collection and must carry only the materials needed. The centre states the expected turnaround time for each test, and the platform shows it to the patient.

5. Report content standards

Each report must show the patient's name, age and sex, the sample identification, the collection and reporting times, the test name and method, the result with its unit, the reference range, any flag, any comment needed to understand the result, and the name, registration and signature of the professional who has approved it. A corrected report must be marked as corrected, give the reason, and replace the earlier report in the patient's record, with the earlier report kept.

6. Critical values

7. Performance monitoring

The medical lead reviews each centre every quarter, looking at turnaround times, corrected reports, critical value calls, complaints and the results of external quality assessment. A centre that fails to meet the standard is given a written improvement plan with dates. Repeated or serious failures lead to suspension.

8. Suspension and ending of the arrangement

A centre is suspended at once, and no new referrals are made, if its accreditation or registration lapses, if it gives false information, if there is a serious risk to patients or if it breaches data protection duties. The platform tells patients with pending tests, arranges for them to continue elsewhere and recovers the data, as the agreement with the centre requires.

9. Roles and responsibilities

10. Communication of results to patients

Results are delivered to the patient through the platform after the responsible professional has approved them. Critical or unexpected results are not released to the patient before the treating doctor has been told, and the doctor decides how and when to explain them. The platform reminds patients that a result must be read together with the advice of the doctor.

11. Confidentiality and data protection duties of centres

A centre may use patient information only to perform and report the tests, must keep it secure, must not pass it to anyone else without a lawful reason, must follow the Information Security and Access Control Policy (CYD-SEC-01) as far as it applies, and must tell the company at once of any loss or exposure of data. The data processing agreement sets out these duties in detail.

12. Fees and independence

Fees for tests are agreed in writing and shown to patients before they book. A centre must not give any benefit to a doctor for referring patients, and the company does not accept payments from a centre in return for preferred placement. Patients may always choose another centre.

13. Annual review

Every centre is re-checked each year. Expired accreditation or registration leads to immediate suspension. Complaints, reporting errors and delayed critical values are reviewed under the Adverse Event and Error Reporting Procedure (CYD-CLN-03).

14. Sign-off record