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Scenario · Pathology Collection Centre

Collect the Wednesday morning pathology list

You are a pathology collector working under supervision at the Toronto collection centre.

Intermediate3 to 4 hours8 tasks
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The situation

What has happened

The Wednesday morning list at Toronto has nine patients between 7:00 am and 9:30 am, with the courier at 9:40 am. The list includes a fasting lipid and glucose patient who admits to having had coffee with milk, a patient on warfarin for a coagulation profile, a four-year-old in the children's room whose parent is anxious, a chain of custody urine drug screen for a pre-employment medical and a vitamin B12 that must be protected from light. On 2 September the laboratory rejected an unlabelled tube collected by a trainee, and the supervisor is now observing identification and labelling at the chair for every patient. One patient reports that they fainted at their last collection.

Your brief. Prepare the room, identify every patient with two identifiers, check each request, collect and label each specimen at the chair in the correct draw order, manage the special cases on the list, record every collection in the Pathology Specimen Register and pack the courier bag on time.
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Tasks

Deliverables

  • Nine entries in the Pathology Specimen Register with storage and despatch recorded
  • Room set-up and stock check record
  • Written decision on the non-fasting patient
  • Courier bag manifest
  • Incident register entry if any event occurred

Documents to use

Systems to use

Pathology Specimen Register

Records every specimen collected at Toronto and in the treatment rooms, with the tests requested, collector, storage, courier despatch and laboratory outcome.

Clinical Incident and Hazard Register

Records clinical incidents, near misses, medication and specimen errors, staff injuries, privacy breaches and hazards with a severity rating, review status and actions.

Patient Records and Appointments

The appointment book and patient register for all sites, recording bookings, arrivals, clinicians, consultation type and follow-up actions.

For trainers and assessors

Units of competency

Current on training.gov.au for the Health as at 10 September 2026.

HLTPAT014Perform venous blood collections
HLTPAT011Receive, prepare and dispatch pathology specimens
HLTPAT008Identify and respond to clinical risks in pathology collection
HLTHPS005Handle medical specimens
HLTINF006Apply basic principles and practices of infection prevention and control

Qualifications

HLT37525Certificate III in Pathology
Assessor notes

What to look for

Evidence guide

Identification with two identifiers and labelling at the chair must be evident for every patient in the register entries. The draw order must be correct. The non-fasting decision must be escalated and recorded, not silently accepted. The chain of custody entry must show witnessing and sealing. Look for storage requirements matching the laboratory manual and for the fainting precautions being specific.

The student's evidence summary lists every record they created or changed in the systems named above, their notes and the tasks they ticked. Verify it against the deliverables and your own assessment tool.