Thousands of NHS samples misslabelled – Why printed cryogenic labels are replacing handwritten labels in the healthcare, biomedical, laboratory and scientific world.
Over the past few years PeterLynn has seen a significant increase in its supply of both blank and printed labels for use in cryogenic, laboratory and other scientific applications.
From clinical laboratory use to biomedical research customers are moving away from error-prone handwritten labels to thermal transfer printed labels, allowing for the fine detail batch and barcodes required for small vials and test tubes.
A survey by More4 News in 2009 showed a worrying number of clinical specimens sent to NHS pathology laboratories had been mislabelled.
Following an FOI request to every NHS trust in the UK, to which 120 trusts replied, it emerged that 365,608 specimens were mislabelled before they arrived at the pathology laboratories.
In addition, 11,712 samples were incorrectly labelled by pathology lab staff.
More4’s FOI investigation also revealed there were 46 recorded cases last year where mislabelling was found to have been related either to a patient death or a significant delay in patient treatment.
In order to remove the risk of error, many laboratories are installing thermal transfer printers in order to print their own cryogenic barcode labels in-house. PeterLynn can supply thermal transfer printable labels suitable for low temperature label applications, alternatively we often supply pre-printed laboratory barcode labels which can be printed with the data, and barcode required by the customer.
To request a free printed sample of our cryogenic labels please click here.
Or to read more about our cryogenic labelling solutions, suitable for us in temperatures as low as -196°C, click here.
