Questions & Answers

Q. You have sent me a result of Vitamin D = 12 nmol/L which is in the severe deficiency area. What should I do? A. Please appreciate that this is not unusual. Many people in the UK have surprisingly low levels of Vitamin D. Levels this low need supplementation and you should discuss this further with your GP or pharmacist locally. They can advise on the correct approach to get levels into the healthy area. Q. How long does my test pack take to arrive? A. We send kits out by Royal Mail 1st class post on weekdays or by airmail for overseas orders. So you should receive your pack within a few days of placing your order. Q. Can I use the test on my child? A. The test is designed for adults. If you use the kit on children we advise that you have a trained nurse or phlebotomist help take the sample. Q. How many times can I test myself? A. For personal use we do not recommend that you test yourself more than twice a year. The multi-packs of 10 and 50 are really meant for professional workers such as nutritionists and University researchers. Q. Can you direct me to information about Vitamin D? A. Yes, this NHS advice is clearly written and covers a lot of areas detail about vitamin D in an easy to understand format….. Q. I have been reading some overseas websites and they use ng/ml rather than nmol/L. Can you tell me how to convert please? A. To convert ng/ml to nmol/L multiply the ng/ml by 2.5. For example 50 ng/ml is equivalent to 125 nmol/L. Q. How long does it take to receive results? A. Once we receive your sample in the laboratory our aim is you will receive results within 10 working days, but this can vary depending on workload. Q. Can you measure Vitamin D in animals? A. Yes, we have been working with major zoological societies and researchers in the UK since 2012 to monitor Vitamin D levels in a wide range of animals from monkeys to reptiles and birds. Of course results need careful interpretation with veterinary reference intervals rather than those we use for humans. Q. Do you send packs overseas? A. Yes, we send kits as far away as New Zealand. Q. I want to test my extended family to check all our Vitamin D levels. Can we order the discounted professional pack of 10 kits? A. Yes, we are seeing this quite a lot - both for family and work situations - the pack comes with 10 individually wrapped kits for you to distribute to individuals. Q. What is the connection between Birmingham Picture Library and the Vitamin D testing service? A. Birmingham Picture Library is the organisation appearing on your bank statement. Birmingham Picture Library is run by the former Pathology Director who set up the service. Now retired from the NHS, Jonathan Berg also writes books about Birmingham. His latest book is Birmingham’s Public Art.
BCPS-V. 2020/18/2 Last Updated: 10th March 2024 Review Date: 11th March 2026
Contacting us Email: vitd@cityassays.org.uk Tel: +44 (0) 121 507 4278 Our Address: Clinical Biochemistry Department, Black Country Pathology Services, City Hospital Birmingham, B18 7QH, UK This service to the public is provided from the SWBH NHS Trust laboratories part of BCPS. Our work is overseen by the governance policies, procedures and quality system applying to BCPS. Please contact us if you would like further details in this area. Note: Birmingham Picture Library receives orders and forwards them to the laboratory . Birmingham PIcture Library is the organisation appearing on your bank statement. You can find out more here… Queries are handled by the laboratory once orders are received.

www.vitamindtest.org.uk