Medscreen - Drug and Alcohol Testing and Screening

Founded in 1987, Medscreen's expertise lies in providing management solutions for the problems that drugs and alcohol bring to the working environment. Medscreen runs the largest laboratory in Europe dedicated to workplace drug testing and offers a complete range of products and services to support a company's policy on drugs and alcohol.

Legally defensible urine analysis

Medscreen's legally defensible urine drug analysis is carried out to accepted international standards. A strict chain of custody is maintained to ensure that results reported relate, beyond all reasonable doubt, to a specific sample provided by a particular individual.

Medscreen's UK and international collection networks provide unrivalled worldwide coverage. We have collecting officers ready to visit customer sites (including vessels and offshore locations) round the clock, every day of the year.

24-hour 'for cause' testing

Medscreen can provide a fast response, 'on-call' service for companies who need to test personnel after incidents ('for cause' testing).

Hair analysis

Hair provides a window of detection for drugs measured in months not days.

In the workplace hair testing can be useful for monitoring abstinence from drugs, or for confirming that a positive drug test resulted from use on a single occasion.

Alcohol testing equipment

Medscreen offers a range of devices that measure alcohol in either breath or saliva.

Lion Alcolmeters: Medscreen are distributors for Lion Alcolmeters. Their proven reliability is demonstrated by their use by police forces throughout the world.

QED Saliva Tests: these individual test kits have an accuracy equivalent to laboratory blood analysis, and provide quantitative results in 2min.

'Instant' urine test kits

'Instant' urine test kits provide an indication of drug use within minutes but they are only equivalent to the immunoassay stage of laboratory testing. If there are no potential legal consequences from the result, these kits can be a valuable tool but in the workplace they need to be used in conjunction with full 'chain of custody' testing.

Medical review

Medscreen has a Medical Review Service for the benefit of companies without an Occupational Health Department. The service provides independent and expert scrutiny of positive results under medical confidentiality, supervised by a qualified occupational medical practitioner.

Drug and alcohol policy advice

Medscreen does not write drug and alcohol policies for companies, but our advice and appraisal service provides a sounding board for companies who are seeking independent and impartial advice and assessment.

Drug and alcohol education

Medscreen run public workshops and bespoke company courses. Our workshops bring together people from different industries with a common aim - to find out more about drugs, alcohol and the workplace. For companies, Medscreen devise topical and relevant courses that provide a framework of reference for the company's drug and alcohol policy.

Specialist training

Medscreen can provide training in the specialist elements of legally defensible testing programmes. The training can be held on the customer's premises or at Medscreen.

Urine specimen collection: Medscreen's training explains the need for the rigorous approach required when collecting specimens within a legally defensible chain of custody. It includes advice on how company protocols may be affected by the drug testing programme.

Alcohol breath testing: the Lion Alcolmeter breath test devices sold by Medscreen are simple to operate, but the implications of their use need to be fully understood. The training follows the manufacturer's instructions on how to use the equipment, and recommends paperwork and procedures for calibration and record keeping to support the alcohol testing programme.

Medical Review Officer workshop: a one-day workshop to explore the function of the Medical Review Officer within a company's drug testing programme.

Drug testing programme management

Where customers have to meet drug testing targets which may be audited by a contractor, Medscreen can reduce the pressure by taking the responsibility for scheduling collections. We also manage impartial random selection for unannounced drug testing programmes.