 |
 |
This is covered in the latest Keele Benchmarking report: “4.4 Free T4 Testing Rate The use of Free T4 testing is also one which is of general interest at the moment, specifically around whether it should be used as a frontline test or only added with an abnormal TSH result. The following table shows the variation in the way Free T4 testing is carried out, by expressing the number of Free T4 tests against the number of TSH tests performed in-house.” It shows 25 out of 78 labs do FT4 and TSH on every thyroid function request. Regards, Wayne. Mr WH Bradbury BSc MSc FRCPath Consultant Biochemist / Head of Blood Sciences, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, Cumberland Infirmary, CARLISLE, CA2 7HY. Tel: 01228 814521 Fax: 01228 814831 The NCUHT Pathology Handbook can be found here<http://www.ncuh.nhs.uk/for-gps/pathology/index.aspx> For general information on tests see Lab Tests Online<http://www.labtestsonline.org.uk/ > From: Clinical biochemistry discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steven John Mccann Sent: 09 February 2018 16:35 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: front line TSH for primary care Thanks Jonathan. I am sure things have changed since these surveys as labs are always looking for cost savings. We do offer TSH only if a patient is on T4 Rx (which is probably about 5% of all our Thyroid requests). I was just wondering if there was more recent bench marking data or some sort of Atlas of Variation which would indicate what lab variation there is. I thought GP electronic reporting data went through a single processing system…surely that could be used to determine what proportion of GP thyroid requests had TSH or TSH+FT4? Interestingly in from Bart in Leiden: Using TSH only…. This is embedded in national Dutch guidelines for primary care. Best regards, Bart B.E.P.B. Ballieux PhD, Laboratory Specialist Clinical Biochemistry and Endocrinology Department KCL, E2-P. Leiden University Medical Centre, P.O.box 9600, 2300RC Leiden Tel: +3171-5262165/62278 Fax: +3171-5266753 email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail Steven From: Jonathan Kay [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 09 February 2018 16:21 To: Steven John Mccann Cc: Jonathan Kay; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: front line TSH for primary care IIRC Julian Barth and others surveyed this twice, but that’s now going back a few years. There’s also some discussion in the archives of the prevalence of hypopituitarism. (And I remain totally unconvinced by that argument.) I’d be very interested in what impact the move to computerised requesting has had on this. Jonathan On 9 Feb 2018, at 15:49, Steven John Mccann <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Does anyone have an idea what proportion of UK labs (or other for that matter) are using just TSH as their front line test? Save money for our Trust: Do you really need to print this email? This e-mail and any attachments transmitted with it are confidential and are for the intended recipient only. If you have received this email in error, any reading, printing, storage, disclosure, copying or any other action taken in respect of this e-mail is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then permanently delete the email. This e-mail and its attachments have been scanned for viruses but we cannot guarantee that they are virus free. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for viruses. The information contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed Save money for our Trust: Do you really need to print this email? ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and they are responsible for all message content. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk Green Laboratories Work http://www.laboratorymedicine.nhs.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLAIMER NOTICE This email and its attachments may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email and its attachments, you must take no action based upon them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. ------ACB discussion List Information-------- This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical community working in clinical biochemistry. Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and they are responsible for all message content. ACB Web Site http://www.acb.org.uk Green Laboratories Work http://www.laboratorymedicine.nhs.uk List Archives http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html List Instructions (How to leave etc.) http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/