Lord Carter of Coles opens state-of-the-art laboratory

Following the agreement of a seven year managed service contract with Abbott Diagnostics, the blood sciences laboratory at William Harvey Hospital has been modernised using state-of-the-art automation. Lord Carter of Coles opened the new laboratory on 19 March 2008. The lab will centralise routine testing for the whole of the East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust and will also perform acute testing within the William Harvey Hospital.

Central to the modernisation is Abbott's ACCELERATOR APS total automation solution together with ARCHITECT c16000 clinical chemistry analysers and ARCHITECT i2000 immunoassay systems.

Ruth Lapworth, clinical director at William Harvey Hospital, described this modernisation solution as being "the best approach for ensuring fast, efficient, consistent, high quality testing. In addition, by automating many tasks which were previously manual, it will also utilise staff in a more appropriate and rewarding manner."

Lord Carter of Coles talked about pathology being "a pivotal and key service for hospital delivery" and "central to delivering the right treatment." He referred to the William Harvey laboratory as "modern and well laid out" and consistent with the recommendations he will be making in his forthcoming review.