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Best practice in primary care pathology: review 10

W S A Smellie¹, N Shaw², R Bowley², M F Stewart³, A M Kelly⁴, P J Twomey⁵, P R Chadwick⁶, J B Houghton⁷, J P Ng⁸ and A J McCulloch⁹

¹ Department of Chemical Pathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Bishop Auckland, UK
² Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
³ Dept of Clinical Biochemistry, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, UK
⁴ Department of Chemical Pathology, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, UK
⁵ Department of Chemical Pathology, Ipswich Hospital, Ipswich, UK
⁶ Department of Microbiology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, UK
⁷ Department of Haematology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, UK
⁸ Department of Haematology, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Barnsley, UK
⁹ Department of Medicine, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Bishop Auckland, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr W S A Smellie, Department of Chemical Pathology, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 6AD, UK; info{at}smellie.com

This tenth best practice review examines four series of common primary care questions in laboratory medicine: (i) antenatal testing in pregnant women; (ii) estimated glomerular filtration rate calculation; (iii) safety testing for methotrexate; and (iv) blood glucose measurement in diabetes. The review is presented in question–answer format, referenced for each question series. The recommendations represent a précis of guidance found using a standardised literature search of national and international guidance notes, consensus statements, health policy documents and evidence-based medicine reviews, supplemented by Medline Embase searches to identify relevant primary research documents. They are not standards but form a guide to be set in the clinical context. Most are consensus rather than evidence-based. They will be updated periodically to take account of new information.

Keywords: best practice; evidence-based medicine; interdisciplinary; primary care

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Smellie, W S A, Vanderpump, M P J, Fraser, W D, Bowley, R, Shaw, N (2008). Best practice in primary care pathology: review 11. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 410-418 [Abstract] [Full Text]