UK recommendations for the validation and adoption of capillary blood testing within the routine clinical laboratory: Consensus opinion from the LabMed patient-centred testing and sampling (PaCTS) group

Abstract

Venepuncture is traditionally regarded as the gold standard for collecting blood samples. However, self-collected capillary blood sampling has emerged as a practical alternative in various settings, fostering a more patient-centred, personalised, and cost-effective healthcare model. The NHS UK strategic plans published in 2023–2025 emphasise a shift in care from hospitals to community settings and from treating illness to preventing it. Self-collected capillary sampling with back-to-laboratory analysis is a strong option to support the shift of healthcare provision into the community while maintaining high-quality results and direct delivery to the electronic patient record.

Routine clinical laboratories, particularly those within the NHS, should consider this potential delivery model. However, most assay manufacturers do not currently include capillary blood in their instructions for use. Consequently, UK Accreditation Service-accredited laboratories that wish to conduct routine tests using capillary blood must perform additional comparison studies to obtain accreditation. If this is not done, they must be able to distinguish between non-accredited (capillary blood) and accredited (venous blood) tests.

This document has been created to guide clinical laboratorians through the rapidly evolving field of patient-centric sampling and how to enable safe working within a routine clinical laboratory.