On the anniversary of the broadcast of the first Wallace and Gromit film this week, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is introducing its very own ‘Wallace and Gromit’ – the latest addition to our Pathology service at St. Mary’s Hospital.
This clever duo are state-of-the-art Ortho Vision analysers which run blood grouping and antibody screening tests for people in hospital as well as people who are sent for a blood test by their GP.
The analysers went live on 1 April and are improving the quality of service we provide for Island patients. They are able to process twice as many blood tests, with accuracy and precision, meaning hospital staff can get blood supplies to patients much quicker.
Wallace and Gromit operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, processing over 1,000 blood samples every month and allowing the Biomedical Scientists to focus on more complex work.
Emily White, Transfusion Laboratory Manager at St. Mary’s Hospital says the investment in pathology equipment is improving efficiency, quality and safety for patients and staff:
“We are really pleased to be able to continually improve the blood testing service we provide. Our new blood transfusion analysers are incredibly efficient and will save many hours of time previously spent testing and reporting results. We are able to get even quicker results and blood supplies for our patients which is brilliant news.
“We like to give our equipment names rather than referring to long numbers and Wallace and Gromit fitted nicely.
“Next year the Pathology service will be introducing a new laboratory information system which will have the capability of linking with other hospitals and tests that are sent off Island will digitally download into the system making the whole process much quicker.”
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Over the past 12 months the Biomedical Sciences team has been working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to process additional Covid-19 tests.
Emily White continued:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has really put a spotlight on pathology and we’ve had to work differently to cope with the additional demands on the service and ensure the workplace remains safe and I am incredibly proud of what our staff have achieved over the past 12 months.”
Still can’t do a friends blood tests. He has to go to Southampton (five hour round trip) because either his doctors loose the tests or the hospital does not carry out the tests asked for. He’s lived most of his life on the island but is considering moving to the mainland because he can’t get the basic tests done needed to keep his condition under control. And if it’s not under control he’ll loose his job.