The laboratory at North Shore Hospital operates a 24 hour service every day of the year, however, services are reduced at weekends and on public holidays. The Waitakere Hospital Laboratory is open from 7am until 11pm every day, including public holidays.
Sometimes when you visit your GP, specialist, midwife or other healthcare professional, they will want you to have some tests. These tests may be needed to help the doctor in diagnosing your problem or to check that you don’t have certain serious conditions.
Sometimes the doctor or nurse will take a specimen (or sample) from you and send it to the laboratory for testing, but in other cases you will be referred to the laboratory's collection sites to have your specimen collected. Laboratory staff are able to collect samples in the Outpatients' Department of either North Shore or Waitakere Hospitals, for testing at the DHB's laboratories or for referral to specialist centres.
The types of specimens taken include blood samples, urine or faeces samples and skin scrapings or swabs from, for example, your throat or ear.
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Haematology Tests
Blood contains many different chemicals and particles which may be tested...
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Biochemistry Tests
This group of tests includes: liver, kidney and thyroid function tests; diabetes tests and lipid (fats), electrolyte (potassium, sodium, chloride), hormone and drug level tests...
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Microbiology Tests
Some microorganisms (germs), generally bacteria and yeasts, live in and on the body normally...
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Fertility, Pregnancy and Natal Tests
Semen Samples Examination of a semen sample will give a doctor information on how fertile you are or how successful a vasectomy has been...
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Immunology
Your immune system is part of your body’s defence system and plays an important role in keeping up your body’s resistance to disease-causing organisms...
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Histology
Sometimes it is necessary to take a small sample of tissue for examination under a microscope in order to diagnose an illness...
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Cytology
Examination of tissue samples for cancer cells or cells that may turn into cancer cells is called cytology...
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Labtests and Diagnostic Medlab - Important Information:
