Histology turn-around times

Awanui Labs Wellington are experiencing continued high volumes of histology specimens, and it is putting increased pressure on histology reporting times.  At present non-urgent specimens may take upwards of four to five weeks to report and it would be appropriate to alert patients of these delays and plan follow up visits accordingly.  

Cases of true clinical urgency should be marked “urgent” on request forms with appropriate clinical details to justify an urgent request and the laboratory will prioritize these cases.  

Thank you for your patience during this busy time for our histology department.

PDF Forms Replace Printed Lab Forms

From 1 November 2025, Awanui Labs is taking an important step towards environmental sustainability by switching from printed community requestor forms to PDF formats. This change supports our wider commitment to cutting down paper use across our operations while keeping the high-quality service our community counts on.

This paperless approach builds on the success of our existing eOrders system, which has already helped many collection centres and labs reduce their paper footprint. Our team is genuinely pleased about this eco-friendly direction that works better for everyone involved.

Requesting lab forms remains simple – just continue emailing your lab pad orders to wlg.labpads@awanuilabs.co.nz. Our team will create PDF forms for you to keep, eliminating waiting times for printed deliveries and making the whole process quicker and more convenient.

As part of our broader paper reduction strategy, we’re also addressing paper results by:

• Identifying if you’re receiving unnecessary paper copies
• Switch to electronic or emailed results
• Completely replacing traditional printed lab forms with PDF versions form 1 November 2025

Get in touch today to explore your paperless options. Email our Customer Liaison Officer Mel Mcfarlane for more information.