Audit of turnaround times for processing Mycobacterium tuberculosis specimens in a district general hospital

Automated liquid culture systems, coupled with molecular techniques, have decreased the time required for culture, identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This audit assessed the turnaround times of a district general hospital (DGH), assisted by the reference laboratory, for processing samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A liquid culture system was in use. The hospital serves an area with a high prevalence of tuberculosis. Request forms and reference laboratory reports were examined for every new laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis in 2000. Time to result was taken as time from receipt of specimen in the laboratory to date of reporting by reference laboratory. Seventy-two new cases of tuberculosis were culture positive in 2000. Median time to identification was 21.5 days and to antibiotic susceptibility results was 35 days. With liquid culture systems, acceptable turnaround times for processing mycobacteria are achievable, but in many DGHs this equipment is not available.