Australia National Pathology Standards (First Edition 2027) 7.04: Reporting critical results: use processes that promptly recognise critical results (preferably automated), interpret and report them in a timely manner across all operational periods including after hours and handovers, notify the requester promptly and otherwise a responsible clinician and where appropriate the patient or carer, document the escalation steps, monitor, audit and review the process including failures, delays and near misses, and identify and communicate critical results during system failure or downtime

What does 7.04 require?

Critical results are life-threatening or urgent-intervention findings and are handled under a dedicated process: they are picked up quickly, by automated flagging where possible; they are interpreted and reported promptly at every hour of operation, including nights, weekends, public holidays and across handovers, leave and on-call; the requester is told straight away, and if unreachable a responsible clinician and, when appropriate, the patient or carer; every escalation step is documented; the process is monitored, audited and reviewed with attention to failures, delays and near misses; and there is a way to find and communicate critical results when systems are down.