"Although we're a small isolated lab, we try to do as much as possible ourselves. We were dealing with an escalating number of tests and when the time came to upgrade four ageing analysers in our clinical chemistry department, consolidation seemed an obvious solution," explained Nigel Turner, Section Head of Clinical Chemistry at the hospital. With 183 different assays, Roche offers the largest menu of tests available on an automated SWA (serum work area) platform, thus providing an ideal solution for the Guernsey laboratory.
The new system has brought benefits for staff and patients alike. Previously, different platforms meant multiple blood draws - one serum tube for each of the analysers, typically three to four per patient - to try to get the work done as quickly as possible. The new streamlined work-flow makes the phlebotomist's job easier and means less discomfort for the patient.
The cobas® 6000 analysers have also given greater flexibility in staffing. "It's difficult to recruit qualified Biomedical Scientists on the island," said Nigel, "When a BMS left recently, the reduced complexity of the system meant that a Medical Laboratory Assistant could be appointed as a replacement. And, as the lab runs a multidisciplinary on-call system, people from other disciplines such as haematology or histology are also required to run the analysers outside normal core hours. Now, it's just one blood tube, one analyser. Staff just put the tube on and press start, so it's made a big difference. We're also saving a significant sum of money now too as the consolidation of clinical chemistry and immunoassay onto one system means that we are doing more work in-house", he continued.
One of the critical aspects for a laboratory in a remote location is reliability. With 99.9% of serum and urine samples being processed by the automated system, this was a major factor in the lab team's decision. "We looked at other suppliers but Roche were the market leaders in pre-analytics and other customers told us that Roche systems' reliability is exceptional," said Nigel. "The cobas® e-link remote diagnostics, which allows Roche technicians to interrogate, diagnose and often resolve issues without having to fly in to the site, was also seen as a benefit for our island laboratory", he concluded. Despite their special circumstances, Nigel and his staff know that with Roche's superior technology, reliability and support, they are not cut off from the world.
