Laboratory overview

There are no on-site Microbiology or Infection Sciences laboratories at the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals. Limited local diagnostic support is provided through blood culture testing using the BD Bactec FX system and rapid molecular testing using the Cepheid GeneXpert platform. These systems are based within the Blood Sciences laboratories and are operated by Blood Sciences staff, supporting rapid incubation, detection and initial testing.

All further microbiology, virology and specialist investigations, including organism identification, susceptibility testing, molecular assays and sequencing, are performed by the central Infection Sciences Hub, ensuring access to comprehensive diagnostics, specialist expertise and standardised workflows across the network.

For full accreditation details and access to the  User Handbook, please refer to the Hub page.