Our collection centres are all closed on the Christmas and New Year public holidays. Centres are open normal working hours the remainder of the time with the exception of Marinoto (closed until 22 January) and Mosgiel (closed until 7 January). Please find details here. Awanui Labs wishes you all a safe and happy festive season.
All of our collection centres will be closed on Labour day (Monday 23 October), and they will reopen with normal operating hours on Tuesday 24 October. Enjoy your long weekend and travel safely if you are heading away.
From Monday 2 October 2023, interim results from Awanui laboratories will display in Health Connect South (HCS) for both hospital and community testing. This change will see: This is a significant change to what is currently shown so please communicate this to all clinicians. Please see below how results will be displayed in HCS.
From 12 September 2023, the primary test for cervical screening will change to a human papillomavirus (HPV) test, with the option of self-testing. Further information about the change can be accessed via the National Screening Unit HPV primary screening webpage located here. There are two sample types that Awanui labs will be accepting for HPV […]
Awanui Labs (formerly SCL) have been advised by the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) that the start date for the switch to primary HPV screening has been postponed until 12 September 2023. Further information is available from the NCSP by emailing HPVScreen@health.govt.nz. Any orders already received for the new HPV swabs will be cancelled, with […]
We are proud to announce, after 60 years in the community, Southern Community Laboratories (SCL) will be changing its name and brand to Awanui Labs.
In normal circumstances there is no need to request FT3 when assessing thyroid function or monitoring thyroxine therapy – serum FT3 concentration is often normal in hypothyroidism. Measurement of FT3 has no part to play in the diagnosis or monitoring of hypothyroidism and should not be requested when thyroid function tests are being used for […]
We are upgrading our Laboratory Information System (LIS). Here is how it will affect referrers. From 29 April 2023, Southern Community Labs will be going live with upgrades to its LIS. This is part of a nationwide initiative that will refresh our existing LIS. Not only does this upgrade make for a more robust system, […]
Tēnā koutou, There have recently been some interim changes to the way microbiology laboratory services are provided at Invercargill hospital SCL laboratory. These changes were introduced in part to better streamline the workflow and improve turnaround times for critical results. They were also in response to on-going challenges with recruitment of suitably qualified Senior Microbiology […]
We’re excited to announce the next generation of non-invasive prenatal screening, Illumiscreen, is now available in Aotearoa New Zealand from across the APHG laboratory network. Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS), sometimes known as NIPT, has been available for quite some time to screen fetal DNA for trisomy 21 (Down), 18 (Edward), 13 (Patau). We now have the latest […]