A swab is collected from an abscess in the ward. The details of the patient on the
sample container do not match those on the request form. Discuss the correct decision
and the appropriate action to be taken.
Q124 marksShort Answers
Answer
The correct decision is to reject the sample — a discrepancy between the patient details on the sample container and those on the accompanying request form is a fundamental patient identification/sample-labelling error, and processing such a sample risks reporting results against the wrong patient, with potentially serious clinical consequences.
Appropriate action:
Do not process the sample.
Document the discrepancy as per the laboratory’s quality-assurance/incident-reporting protocol.
Contact the requesting ward/clinician promptly to inform them of the labelling discrepancy and request clarification or a fresh, correctly labelled sample.
Ensure the corrected/repeat sample is properly labelled at the bedside at the time of collection (matching patient identifiers verified against the patient’s wristband/identity, per standard specimen-collection protocol) before being sent to the laboratory again.
This incident should also prompt reinforcement of correct labelling practices with ward staff, as a preventive/quality-improvement measure, given that mislabelling is a significant and avoidable source of diagnostic/patient-safety error.
