In order to transform haematology services at Kingston Hospital, a partnership forged with Beckman Coulter has facilitated staff retraining, the updating of IT systems and the installation of state-of-the art analysis systems.
The haematology laboratory at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust is playing a key role in helping to expand and modernise diagnostic services for West London patients and their families. Overall, the hospital provides a full range of diagnostic tests and treatment to approximately 320,000 people locally, with a large proportion of elderly patients in the catchment area. In addition, it is the largest single-site district general hospital in London, and its maternity unit is the second biggest in London.
Five years ago it laid the framework for a dynamic series of changes to enable it to cope with an expanding workload that by this year had seen demand for full blood count (FBC) increase by almost 25%. The laboratory now handles 1200–1400 FBC requests daily, which account for almost 50% of its total workload – the laboratory expects a further 9% increase in FBC work by 2013.
To keep local GPs informed about how the service is constantly expanding, the laboratory produces its own quarterly newsletter highlighting changes and improvements. Currently, 40% of work comes from GPs, with the daily peak experienced from 3.00 pm, which delivers the highest workload pressures on staff.
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