Speed was one of the main reasons for choosing the ADVIA Centaur at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw General Hospital
Assay quality, instrument reliability and availability of reagents were top of the wish list for Biomedical Scientists at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw General Hospital, who took delivery of three new ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay Systems from Bayer Diagnostics in December 2003.
Two systems have been installed at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the third at Bassetlaw as part of an overall Bayer solution for the two hospitals, enabling 95% of the laboratories' immunoassay workload to be consolidated using common analytical technology.
"System breakdowns and reagent unavailability had caused us problems in the past with our previous non-Bayer analysers", explains Alun Price, Head Biomedical Scientist at Doncaster and Bassetlaw, who spearheaded the tendering process for new immunoassay analysers last year.
"We were keen to eliminate these issues and also to consolidate more of our immunoassay work on to a new front-end system which could handle hCG, Folate and PSA as well as all our other routine analytes." ADVIA Centaur is a fully automated system which utilises direct chemiluminescence technology to achieve high sensitivity in immunoassay testing. Random access analysis is performed at the highly productive rate of up to 240 tests per hour, with total on-board capacity for up to 180 samples.
To maximise productivity, reagents and consumables can be added without interruption to the testing process.
"Speed was one of the main reasons for choosing the ADVIA Centaur, combined with the fact that it is now a very well-established technology", continues Alun.
"At Doncaster, we are currently processing between 400 and 450 samples per day, but our workload is constantly increasing.
The ADVIA Centaur systems have already made a good impact on our workflow efficiency, and we know that they will provide us with sufficient capacity for the next five years." Before finalising their choice of new analyser, Alun and his colleagues visited other laboratories where the ADVIA Centaur system is installed in order to gain an objective view of the instrument. "We got the impression that Bayer's customer service is very good, and this was an important element in our choice", he says - a sentiment which has been borne out by experience. "We thought the installation process was very good, with everything - including training - being accomplished over a four week period", he concludes.
"The analysers have lived up to our expectations, and we've really not had any problems so far.
Staff like the new instruments, and we are impressed by the service we have received from Bayer."
