Please do not provide a urine sample unless you have been asked to do so by one of our healthcare professionals.
If you are asked to provide a sample and are at the surgery, a member of our team will give you a container and explain how to collect a urine sample.
If we request you to provide a sample after contacting you by text or over the phone, you can collect a sample container from our surgery reception desk.
What is a mid-stream urine sample?
A mid-stream urine sample means that you don’t collect the first part of the urine that comes out or the last part. This reduces the risk of the sample being contaminated with bacteria.
How to collect a urine sample:
- label the container with your name, date of birth and the date of the specimen
- wash your hands
- wash your genitalia to avoid contamination
- start to urinate but don’t collect the first part of the urine that comes out
- collect a sample of urine ‘mid-stream’ in a sample container provided by the practice
- screw the lid of the container shut
- wash your hands thoroughly.
- You can collect a urine sample at any time of the day unless your healthcare professional advises you otherwise. If your healthcare professional gives you any other instructions, you should follow these.
Bringing the sample in to surgery
As long as the sample is clean and properly labelled, you can drop the sample container at our surgery reception desk. If you cannot hand your urine sample within an hour, you should keep in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge (for no longer than 24 hours) to prevent bacteria multiplying and affecting the test results.
How long will I have to wait for a result?
Many urine samples can be quickly analysed using dipstick analysis so you should know the result immediately if you are in the practice or within 24 hours if you have dropped a urine sample off to us.
For some more complex tests we need to send your urine sample off for laboratory testing at one of the local hospitals. In this case, it might take up to 5 days for the results to come back to the practice. These are sent electronically and checked every day by our Clinical Team. If there is a cause for concern we will contact you by phone, text or letter within 24 hours of receiving the result.
We will not routinely contact you if the results are normal.