Our colleagues in the Biochemistry Laboratory at HRI have recently seen new state-of-the-art equipment installed as part of the ongoing pathology upgrade work in our collaborative pathology partnership with The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.

Consultant Clinical Scientist and POCT Clinical Lead, Chris Cockroft, said: “The first part of our new Atellica Solution system is up and running in our HRI laboratory. Our managed service provider, Siemens Healthcare Ltd, is working closely with us to deliver high quality testing services as part of our ongoing pathology upgrade work across the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT).

“The equipment introduces urgent care prioritisation and faster testing times for acute tests, such as Troponin (used for supporting diagnosis of myocardial infarction).

“The aim is to have faster turnaround times and reduce the amount of service downtime, ultimately benefit patient care. The laboratory team have worked incredibly well over the last few months to ensure a smooth transition to the new equipment. We plan to continue this work at Calderdale Royal Hospital in the coming months.”

Here’s what some of our biomedical scientists have told us about working with the new equipment:

“There is more control over the workflow, and automatic urgent sample prioritisation will help with A&E turn-around-times.”

“The new equipment is faster to run samples than the old equipment was.”

“It’s easier to operate and maintain than the older kit.”