This was a prospective, observational intervention study performed at The Northern General Hospital, Sheffield
Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between August 2007 and February 2008. It was registered as a service
evaluation following discussion with the Trust’s Research Department. Blood culture contamination rates were monitored
on the two medical admissions units (MAU1 and MAU2) which accept admissions from Accident and Emergency
and directly from General Practice. Blood cultures are taken primarily by trained Doctor Support Workers
(DSWs). Junior doctors (who are usually within four years of qualification) take blood cultures when the DSWs are not
available or are unable to obtain a blood sample. We were not able to record who took each blood culture.