Design Requirements for Anatomical Pathology Departments Guideline Guideline Design Requirements for Anatomical Pathology Departments NSWHP_PG_019 Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Background.............................................................................................................................. 3 3. Scope ...................................................................................................................................... 3 4. Definitions ................................................................................................................................ 4 5. Policy Statement ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1 Key Planning Considerations................................................................................................ 4 5.2 Design Requirements of the Histopathology Laboratory ....................................................... 4 a) Specimen Reception/Accession ............................................................................................... 5 b) Fresh Tissue and Frozen Section ............................................................................................ 6 c) Cut-Up ..................................................................................................................................... 6 d) Tissue Processing.................................................................................................................... 7 e) Chemical Preparation and Decanting ....................................................................................... 8 f) Specimen Storage, Retrieval and Archiving ............................................................................. 8 g) Embedding, Sectioning and Staining ....................................................................................... 8 h) Embedding .............................................................................................................................. 9 i) Tissue Sectioning .................................................................................................................... 9 j) Tissue Staining and Coverslipping ......................................................................................... 10 k) Case Assembly, Checking and Case Allocation ..................................................................... 10 l) Slide Scanning for Whole Slide Imaging ................................................................................ 11 m) Immunohistochemistry........................................................................................................ 11 5.3 Storage .............................................................................................................................. 12 a) Chemical and Flammable Stores ........................................................................................... 12 b) Consumable Stores ............................................................................................................... 12 c) Slide and Block Storage ......................................................................................................... 12 5.4 Specialised Testing ............................................................................................................ 13 a) Cytology ................................................................................................................................. 13 b) Immunofluorescence .............................................................................................................. 14 c) Molecular testing of cancer .................................................................................................... 14 d) Electron Microscopy ............................................................................................................... 15 e) Autopsy .................................................................................................................................. 15 5.5 Design Requirements of the Histopathology Department ................................................... 15 a) Reporting and Consulting....................................................................................................... 15 b) Trainees ................................................................................................................................. 16 c) Conference and Teaching Areas ............................................................................................ 17 d) Administrative Office .............................................................................................................. 17 e) Staff Safety ............................................................................................................................ 18 f) Staff Facilities ........................................................................................................................ 18 6. Roles and Responsibilities ..................................................................................................... 18 7. Legal and Policy Framework .................................................................................................. 18 8. Review ................................................................................................................................... 19 9. Risk ....................................................................................................................................... 19 10. Further Information ............................................................................................................. 19 11. Version History ................................................................................................................... 19 Appendix A – Tissue Pathology Functional Components Diagram ................................................ 20 Page 2 of 20 Approver: Executive Director Clinical Streams, Version Number: V1.0, Publication Date: 4/12/2019 This document is subject to change and a printed copy may not be up to date. The current version is only available online in the NSW Health Pathology Policy Library Guideline Design Requirements for Anatomical Pathology Departments NSWHP_PG_019 1. Purpose To define the design requirements for future developments of Anatomical Pathology Departments within NSW Health Pathology. 2. Background Anatomical Pathology (AP) involves the study of human tissues for diagnosis and monitoring of disease or directing treatment. This encompasses the study of: • Whole organs or samples of tissue in histopathology and electron microscopy • Isolated cells in cytopathology • The components of cells as in immunohistochemistry and • Somatic genomics. An AP Department contains a “clean” consultation/microscopy area including workspace for pathologists, registrars, cytologists and laboratory managers. Case reporting is performed by specialist anatomical pathologists examining tissue or cells at microscopic level and this comprises the “testing” component of AP. All cases are reported by a specialist anatomical pathologist except normal gynaecological cytology (LBC). The activities of the anatomical pathology laboratory may allow for flexibility in service design, including relocation of some activity off site. On site services should include specimen receipt and macroscopic examination of larger resection or biopsy specimens, and this is encompassed in the onsite preparation of specimens for the pathologist to examine, although other technical activity such as tissue processing and slide preparation may be performed off-site NSW Health Pathology AP Departments are hospital based and process a significant volume of specimens including a high volume of large and complex surgical specimens. The Australasian Health Facility Guidelines (AusHFG) state that there is a need to physically confine a laboratory based upon the physical, chemical or biological hazards generated in laboratories including AP. These laboratories must be physically separated from other laboratory work areas by walls and doors including air handling from other laboratory work areas. This guideline should be read in conjunction with NPAAC Requirements for Medical Pathology Services 2018 Standards S7A.1 and S7A.2 and work, health and safety (WHS) requirements. 3. Scope This guideline applies to all NSW Health Pathology AP Departments. It should be noted that some customisation may be necessary to meet local requirements. Mortuary facilities have specific design requirements that are not within the scope of this guideline. Electron microscopy laboratories have specific requirements and have not been specifically addressed in this document. Page 3 of 20 Approver: Executive Director Clinical Streams, Version Number: V1.0, Publication Date: 4/12/2019 This document is subject to change and a printed copy may not be up to date. The current version is only available online in the NSW Health Pathology Policy Library Guideline Design Requirements for Anatomical Pathology Departments NSWHP_PG_019 4. Definitions Clean area: A clean area is an area not used for the handling or processing of biological specimens. Cytology: The study of tissue at an individual cell level.