At the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey, two Cobas 6000 analysers from Roche are helping the hospital's lab to increase efficiency and become more self-sufficient.
'Although we're a small isolated lab, we try to do as much as possible ourselves,' explained Nigel Turner, section head of clinical chemistry at the hospital.
'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,' he added.
With 183 different assays, Roche offers a large menu of tests on an automated SWA (serum work area) platform, thus providing an ideal solution for the Guernsey laboratory.
The system has brought benefits for both staff and patients.
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 workflow 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 in Guernsey,' said Turner.
'When one 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, as the consolidation of clinical chemistry and immunoassay onto one system means that we are doing more work in-house,' he added.
One of the critical aspects for a laboratory in a remote location is reliability.
With 99.9 per cent of serum and urine samples being processed by the automated system, this was a major factor in the lab team's decision.
'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, has also seen as a benefit for our island laboratory,' said Turner.
