Roche Diagnostics is providing an integrated Managed Laboratory Service for five hospitals in Devon and Cornwall.
The Managed Laboratory Service for the Peninsula Purchasing and Supply Alliance, a network of hospital trusts in Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay and Truro, supports the aim of 'treatment of more patients with improved outcomes at a lower cost'.
A single source of supply for the entire network means greater cost effectiveness and reduced administration costs.
The single contract for all locations has provided greater standardisation across the labs, increased productivity and improved communication and connectivity.
'A common range of assays in use across all the trusts, with standardised reference ranges, makes comparing results quick and simple, even when a patient is transferred from one hospital to another,' said Adrian Cudmore, laboratory manager at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
'The agreement with Roche has helped us promote best practice across the region,' he added.
Roche is providing a single-source solution for pathology services that goes beyond supplying hardware and reagents.
Roche provides four dedicated Laboratory Support Coordinators (LSCs) to the labs across the region.
At Royal Cornwall Hospital, this has allowed many operational functions to be moved away from senior staff, who can now focus more on the clinical aspects of their jobs.
A lot of the work required to implement new developments, such as new processes or assays, has been transferred to the LSC and, overall, senior laboratory staff have more time available to focus on core responsibilities.
One supplier for all pathology services also means simpler ordering and invoicing and, by transferring risk to Roche, the laboratories were able to recover VAT in full.
'The regular contract reviews are an integral part of our monitoring performance against planned activity,' said Richard Miles, pathology services manager at Derriford Hospital.
'This represents a key performance indicator that enables effective financial control of variance.
'The introduction of an inventory management package last year has also provided benefits in controlling stock expenditure,' he added.