Singapore legislation

Regulation 32

of Healthcare Services (General) Regulations 2021

Regulation 32

Collection of specimens

Amended byS 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023

Subregulation 1

Amended byS 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023S 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023

For the purposes of the traceability of a specimen that is collected from a patient, a licensee must ensure that —

(a)

the personnel who is responsible for collecting the specimen checks and verifies the identity of the patient prior to the collection;

(b)

the specimen collected is the correct specimen for the type of test that is ordered by a requestor to be carried out for the patient; and

(c)

the container containing the specimen is labelled accurately and clearly with —

(i)

a name and reference number unique to the patient;

(ii)

the site from which the specimen is collected, where relevant; and

(iii)

where the test ordered by a requestor to be carried out for the patient requires the collection of more than one specimen, the sequence in which the specimen is collected.

Subregulation 2

Amended byS 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023

A licensee must —

(a)

implement a system where all relevant specimen collection information may be traced from an identifier on the container containing the specimen; or

(b)

include all relevant specimen collection information on the label on the container containing the specimen.

Subregulation 3

Amended byS 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023

In this regulation —

Definition

“relevant specimen collection information”, in relation to a specimen, means the following information:

(a)

the date and time of the collection of the specimen;

(b)

the type of specimen;

Definition

“requestor”, in relation to a patient, means the medical practitioner, dentist or collaborative prescribing practitioner who ordered a test for the patient.

Amended byS 414/2023 wef 26/06/2023