Service Improvement for East Kent Pathology (UK)
Client Issue: Pathology is a key clinical service & between 60-70% of National Health Service diagnoses rely on it. Pathology supports community healthcare & public health (especially communicable diseases) as well as GP & hospital care. In 1994 clinical services across East Kent, an area with a population of about 550,000, were delivered. The 3 Trusts faced particular problems, they faced particular problems with staff shortages & the increasing costs of maintaining ‘on call’ facilities. Synergy was asked to help facilitate the modernisation of these services, to manage the workload while improving patient & staff experience.
Solution: The essential criteria agreed with the client for an effective solution included; maintenance of an affordable quality on call service; timeliness of response; & an achievement of manpower & cost savings.
Following extensive consultation with Pathologists at every centre & in every discipline, including meetings with representatives from the on call physicians & surgeons we concluded that:
- Automated Labs (Haematology & Chemistry) should be created at each of the Acute Emergency Sites
- Microbiology would be concentrated at two sites – Margate & Ashford with Media Prep only at Ashford
- Histopathology Lab Services would be concentrated at Ashford with a consultancy service at Canterbury
We also suggested that it would be helpful to create a Pathology Network with a central office based at Kent & Canterbury Hospital & that more effective use should be made of IT to allow speedier & easier access to information.
Outcome: The proposed changes were initiated, solving the on call problem & resulting in lower costs.
The rationalisation also allowed the Canterbury lab to vacate hutted accommodation & to reconfigure patient waiting areas. The Pathology Network now has a Board & is made up of executives from across Kent & Medway NHS organisations. It oversees the delivery, development & modernisation of local pathology services. This provides strategic leadership, approves key service planning decisions & commits resources within its allowed limits, acting for & on behalf of its member organisations & other stakeholders in Kent & Medway.
The network aims to provide a modern, patient focused service, which supplies fast, accurate, evidence based testing, carried out by a fully trained & motivated workforce of more than 700 staff, with an annual budget of over £35 million. It does this by working across traditional boundaries.