Payment
This test incurs an out-of-pocket fee, which must be paid at the time of collection unless a third party has been nominated to cover the costs.
If you nominate a third party, you must provide TML Pathology with a written statement (on letter-headed paper) or a pre-printed chain of custody form from the third party, clearly stating that they will accept responsibility for the payment.
Important:
The collection will not proceed without either payment or confirmation that a third party will cover the costs.
What To Expect
- Photo ID must be shown to the collector for the collection to proceed.
- The collector is required to accompany you into the cubicle.
- You will need to sign all tamper-evident labels, seals, and forms. Please follow collectors' instructions on where to sign.
- Forms asking about your current medications and other personal information will be given to you to complete. You must complete any forms presented to you.
- You will need to be in the presence of the collector until the last sample is sealed in a tamper-evident bag. Please be patient and wait until the collector instructs you to leave.
Sample Collection – General Steps
- The collector will ask you to remove coats/jumpers and to empty your pockets. All personal belongings will be left outside the collection room.
- You will be asked to wash your hands prior to producing a sample.
- A coloured solution will be added to the toilet. Water taps and soap will be made tamper-evident (e.g., a paper bag taped over the taps).
- A sample collection cup will be provided for you to submit a minimum of 40mL of urine.
- The collection staff member will remain in the room whilst you urinate and discreetly observes from the side.
- Once finished, the sample cup is handed to the collector. The collector observes the toilet prior to flushing.
- The urine will be temperature tested. If the temperature is outside 33-38°C, or anything unusual is noted about the urine, another sample will be required.
Why Do We Ask for Photo ID?
Medical and legal Drug Screen Testing require us to perform strict documentation of the process.
Chain-of-Custody refers to the documentation process required for the results to be legally defensible if formally challenged.
This process protects the rights of the person undergoing a drug abuse test and minimizes the risk of allegations of specimen tampering and adulteration.
To ensure that a pathology test, particularly when performed for medicolegal requirements, meets the minimum requirements of the court or the requesting authority, we must positively identify the donor in such a way that identity cannot be contested. Photographic identification is the best and most widely accepted way to ensure this.
There is no point in performing testing on a sample if any findings can be dismissed on the grounds that the identity of the donor is uncertain.
