How it works
From first enquiry to signed receipt - in seven stages
Most of the elapsed time in a transfer is spent on documentation and on getting both clinics to confirm their position rather than on the journey. This is where each stage sits and who is responsible for it.
A proposed process
This describes the process we intend to operate. It remains subject to operational confirmation, and the detail of any individual case is agreed in writing with the organisations involved before collection.
- 01
Sending laboratory
Material released
Collection timestamp
- 02
Documented release
Checked and signed
Signed handover
- 03Active transport
Accompanied transit
Named courier throughout
Courier responsibility
Transport conditions maintained across the route
- 04
Verified handover
Seals and identifiers checked
Seal verification
- 05
Receiving laboratory
Receipt signed
Delivery receipt
The seven stages
Each stage ends in something written down
A stage is complete when its output exists: a quotation, a checked documentation set, a confirmed window, a signed record. Not when someone says it is.
- 1of 7
Initial enquiry
You tell us what needs to move, from where, to where, and roughly when. Nothing is committed at this point.
An enquiry can come from a patient, a clinic or a laboratory. We ask only for what is needed to judge whether the route is one we can support: the material, the two locations and your preferred timing.
We do not ask for medical records, identity documents or clinical history at this stage, and the enquiry form is not designed to receive them.
Patient or enquirer
- Tell us which clinics hold and will receive the material
- Give an outline of your preferred timing
- Say whether a fixed clinical date is involved
Transport team
- Acknowledge the enquiry with a reference
- Confirm whether the route is one we can assess
- Set out what happens next and what we will need
At the end of this stage: An enquiry reference and a written statement of what we will assess.
- 2of 7
Route and case assessment
We look at the specific route, the organisations at each end and whether the movement can proceed at all.
Assessment covers the origin country's export position, the destination country's import position, and the practical routing between the two. It is the point at which a route is either accepted or declined.
If a route cannot proceed, we say so here and explain why, rather than allowing a case to progress and fail later.
Transport team
- Establish the requirements at both ends of the route
- Identify practical routing options
- Confirm whether the case can proceed
- Issue a quotation following the assessment
Sending clinic
- Confirm it holds the material and can release it
- Identify any conditions attached to the release
Receiving clinic
- Confirm it will accept the material
- State its own import and acceptance requirements
At the end of this stage: A written quotation and a statement of the requirements the route carries.
- 3of 7
Documentation review
The paperwork is assembled and checked for consistency before anything is scheduled.
We produce a list of the documents the route requires and who is responsible for each one. Completed documents are checked against each other, so that names, identifiers and dates agree across the whole set.
Discrepancies are raised with the party that can correct them. A date is not confirmed while items remain outstanding.
Patient or enquirer
- Complete and return the consent or instruction forms your clinic requires
- Confirm the details we hold about you are correct
Sending clinic
- Provide release documentation and material identifiers
- Confirm the authorisation position for the release
Receiving clinic
- Provide acceptance confirmation and any import documentation
- Confirm the identifiers it expects to receive
Transport team
- Issue and maintain the documentation checklist
- Check the completed set for consistency
- Confirm when the documentation position is complete
At the end of this stage: A complete, checked documentation set held against the case reference.
- 4of 7
Clinic coordination
Collection and delivery windows are agreed with both laboratories, working around their schedules.
We propose windows rather than fixed times, and both laboratories confirm them. Laboratory availability governs the plan: a collection window that the sending laboratory cannot staff is not a plan.
Once both ends have confirmed, the agreed windows are issued in writing to everyone involved.
Sending clinic
- Confirm a collection window it can staff
- Confirm who will release the material
- Confirm the packaging configuration it will provide
Receiving clinic
- Confirm a delivery window it can staff
- Confirm who will receive and sign for the material
- Confirm site access arrangements for the courier
Transport team
- Propose windows that work for both ends
- Issue the agreed plan in writing
- Hold the plan under review until collection
At the end of this stage: Agreed collection and delivery windows, confirmed in writing by both clinics.
- 5of 7
Courier and equipment preparation
A named courier is assigned and briefed, and we prepare our own shipper for the planned journey duration.
The courier is assigned to the case, not to a round, and is briefed on the route, the two clinic contacts and the documentation. Their identification details are shared with both clinics before collection so that the person arriving is the person expected.
We supply our own prepared shipper for the case. It is configured for the planned journey, with allowance for the route rather than for the shortest possible transit, and its preparation is agreed with the sending laboratory beforehand.
Transport team
- Assign and brief a named courier
- Share courier identification with both clinics
- Supply and prepare our own shipper for the planned journey duration
- Confirm the routing and any connections
Sending clinic
- Confirm any site identification requirements the courier must meet
- Prepare the material for release within the agreed window
At the end of this stage: A briefed, identified courier and our own shipper prepared for the agreed route.
- 6of 7
Accompanied transport
The courier collects the shipment, remains with it throughout the journey, and records each transfer of responsibility.
Collection is a documented handover: identifiers and container counts are checked against the release documentation, and the sending laboratory signs. The shipment then stays with the courier.
Where a route requires a transfer between couriers, that transfer is itself recorded as a handover. Both clinics are informed at collection and again before arrival, and of any material change to the plan.
Sending clinic
- Release the material against the documentation and sign the record
- Confirm identifiers and container counts at the point of release
Transport team
- Check identifiers and seals at collection
- Remain with the shipment throughout the journey
- Record every transfer of responsibility
- Inform both clinics of collection and of any material change
At the end of this stage: A signed collection record and an accompanied journey with each transfer logged.
- 7of 7
Destination handover and confirmation
The receiving laboratory checks the shipment against the documentation, signs for it, and the case record is closed and issued.
The courier presents identification. The receiving laboratory checks the seals and the identifiers against the release documentation before the shipper is opened, and a named member of that laboratory signs for the material.
The completed custody record covering collection, transfers, arrival and receipt is issued to both clinics and to the enquirer. Any assessment of the material itself belongs to the receiving laboratory and is not something we comment on.
Receiving clinic
- Verify courier identification
- Check seals and identifiers against the documentation
- Sign for the material
- Carry out its own assessment of the material
Transport team
- Present identification and the case documentation
- Complete the handover record
- Issue the closed custody record to all parties
Patient or enquirer
- Receive confirmation that the transfer has completed
At the end of this stage: A signed receipt and a closed custody record issued to every party.
Responsibilities
Who does what
A transfer involves at least four parties. Confusion about which of them owns a step is the most common reason a case stalls, so the position is set out at the start of every case.
- The patient or enquirer
- Starts the enquiry, completes the consent or instruction forms the sending clinic requires, and confirms the details we hold are correct. You are not asked to coordinate between laboratories or to send medical records.
- The sending clinic
- Confirms it holds the material and can release it, provides the release documentation and identifiers, prepares the material, and signs the collection record.
- The receiving clinic
- Confirms in writing that it will accept the material, states its own import and acceptance requirements, verifies the shipment at handover and signs for it.
- The transport team
- Assesses the route, issues the documentation checklist and chases it, proposes windows both laboratories can staff, assigns and briefs a named courier, and issues the closed custody record.
On timescales
We do not publish standard transit times. A figure given before assessment would be a guess, and border and authority processing times sit outside our control and are excluded from any estimate we give.
Once we have assessed your route, you will be given a realistic window and told what could move it.
Request a quote
Start at stage one
An enquiry costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It gives us enough to tell you whether the route is one we can support.
A quotation is provided following case assessment. Requirements vary by origin, destination and the organisations involved, and some routes cannot be supported.