Below are our latest (March 2024) turn around times for our three laboratories. Figures are updated towards the end of the month for the previous month.
The laboratories aim to report all genomic tests within the NHS England genomic test reporting time guidelines. Please note that reporting times will vary depending on the test type and referral type.
Results from tests requested through East GLH will be delivered by e-mail to a designated email address, which you will need to include on the request form. It is preferable for us if you use an nhs.net account and you are advised to use a departmental, rather than an individual, account if possible.
Patient information is only secure when sent via email from one nhs.net account to another nhs.net account. As such, when sending laboratory reports across networks, these will be encrypted.
If you have not sent in samples to us before for any particular test, please do make contact with the Laboratory in advance to make sure we have the capacity to process your request. Please email us on cuh.geneticslaboratories@nhs.net
Rare Disease turnaround times
| Clinical Urgency | Example Tests | NHSE Target TAT (Days) | Cambridge | Nottingham | Leicester |
| Urgent - Ultra Rapid | QF-PCR for rapid trisomy detection | 3 | 89% (1.5 days) | 74% (2.5 days) | 100% |
| Urgent - Rapid | Microarray / karyotypes for prenatal /urgent postnatal (e.g. neonatal referrals) | 14 | 96% (9 days) | 91% (10.1 days) | 88% |
| Non-urgent - Standard | Standard paediatric or fetal loss microarray | 42 | 16% (48 days) | 96% (40.1 days) | 93% |
| Urgent - Rapid | PCR based tests for predictive testing | 14 | 78% (19 days) | 32% (28.4 days)* | n/a |
| Non-urgent - Standard | Rare disease single gene screening, known familial variant testing & standard STR based analysis | 42 | 60% (36 days) | ||
| Non-urgent Standard | Rare disease small panel testing (<10 genes) | 42 | 22%* | 72% (45.8 days) * | n/a |
| Non-urgent - Standard | Postnatal karyotyping (e.g. fertility or familial microarray follow-up) | 42 | n/a | n/a | 74% |
| Non-urgent - Complex standard | Large gene panels (>10 genes), WES and WGS | 84 | 12%* | 28% (149.9 days) * | TBC |
Please note, in order to reduce the backlog, some non-urgent standard and complex gene panels are outsourced to an external ISO15189 accredited laboratory (Medicover) for testing. Results are returned to the Cambridge laboratory and forwarded on to the referring clinician.
Haem-Onc turnaround times
| Clinical Urgency | Example Tests |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) |
Cambridge | Nottingham | Leicester |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Urgency Urgent – Ultra Rapid | Example Tests Urgent haemato-oncology FISH/RT-PCR (e.g. BCR/ABL1, PML/RARA) |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 3 |
Cambridge 56% (3 days) | Nottingham 86% (1.9 days) | Leicester 100% |
| Clinical Urgency Urgent - Ultra Rapid | Example Tests NPM1 exon 12 FLT3 ITD |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 3 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 40% (4.4 days) | Leicester n/a |
| Clinical Urgency Urgent | Example Tests Urgent diagnostic pathway/upfront treatment determining (FISH/clonality/targeted mutation/karyotype) |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 7 |
Cambridge 67% (5 days) | Nottingham n/a | Leicester n/a |
| Clinical Urgency Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests Urgent haemato-oncology karyotyping |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 14 |
Cambridge 74% (15 days) | Nottingham 83% (10.2 days) | Leicester 100% |
| Clinical Urgency Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests Haemato-oncology (other) |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 14 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 71.3% (11.2 days) various tests | Leicester 96% (for JAK2V617F) |
| Clinical Urgency Non-urgent - Standard | Example Tests Routine array/karyotype |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 84% (17 days) | Nottingham n/a | Leicester n/a |
| Clinical Urgency Non-Urgent Standard | Example Tests Heamato-oncology microarrays |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 100% (16.5 days) | Leicester n/a |
| Clinical Urgency Non-urgent Standard | Example Tests Standard haemato-oncology karyotyping (e.g. MDS) |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 84% (19.5 days) | Leicester 97% |
| Clinical Urgency Non-urgent - Standard | Example Tests NGS panels for haemato-oncology referrals (Haem-Onc NGS panels) |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 7% (33 days) | Nottingham N/a | Leicester n/a |
Solid Cancer turnaround times
| Clinical Urgency | Example Tests |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) |
Cambridge | Nottingham | Leicester |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent- Rapid | Example Tests DPYD |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 5 |
Cambridge 100% (3 days) | Nottingham N/a | Leicester n/a |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests FISH for solid cancers |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 14 |
Cambridge 92% (10 days) | Nottingham 100% (8.4 days) | Leicester 100% |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests MGMT promoter methylation/MLH 1 |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 14 |
Cambridge 100% (5 days) | Nottingham n/a | Leicester n/a |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests NGS - targeted DNA |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 98% (11 days) | Nottingham 86.3% (15 days) | Leicester 97% |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests NGS - targeted RNA |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 100% (11 days) | Nottingham 80% (15.8 days) | Leicester n/a |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests Pan cancer - DNA |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 78% (19 days) | Nottingham n/a | Leicester n/a |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests Pan cancer - RNA |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge 67% (17 days) | Nottingham n/a | Leicester n/a |
| Urgent - Rapid | Example Tests FISH for solid cancers |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 21 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 83% (18.7 days) | Leicester n/a |
| Example Tests MSI testing & MLH1 promoter methylation |
NHSE Target TAT (Days) 42 |
Cambridge n/a | Nottingham 8% (87.3 days) * | Leicester n/a |
*denotes areas with backlog