The scientific-technical services provided by the CNM to the NHS cover the following areas: Rapid Response System (RRS) for biological alerts, service portfolio for microbiological diagnosis, study and control of outbreaks, microbiological surveillance programmes and scientific-technical advice.

The Diagnostic Guidance Area is responsible for the management of all samples received at the National Microbiology Centre (CNM) for the diagnosis, reference and investigation of the different microorganisms associated with infectious diseases. It also provides advice to users on clinical-microbiological aspects of the analytical methods offered in the CNM's Portfolio of Services.

All samples arriving at the CNM are controlled and managed according to strict biosafety standards, in accordance with current regulations, until they are delivered to the destination laboratory. Also in accordance with current regulations, the centre has a Safety Advisor (ADR) for all matters related to the shipment and reception of dangerous goods.

Requests for microbiological studies are managed through the GIPI web application.​​​​​​​ (https://cnm-laboratorios.isciii.es/),  exclusive to the CNM. In addition, the results are displayed in the same application at the time of validation by the laboratory, providing real-time reports.

The use of this on-line application requires a prior request for registration in the programme's database, for which you can use the telephone numbers 91-8223723 and 91-8223694, or the e-mail address of the area that appears in the contact details.

The entire process has been certified by the Spanish Association for Standardisation and Certification (AENOR) with the ISO 9001 quality standard since 2012..​​​