Annual Review 2009 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

Chapter Five
“Changes in phlebotomy services, transport and IT
links has also improved the services we offer GPs.”
Ian Barnes, National Lead for Pathology officially
opened the new labs in May in an event, to celebrate
the investment in Pathology the Trust has made and to
recognise the department’s hard work in what was a
very big change for all.
Rob Ashley went on to say: “The staff have worked
extremely hard to make the move and changes run
smoothly and successfully, and not only will staff
benefit from the changes to their working environment
so to will patients and GPs from the newly improved
service the Trust now offers.”
£3.3 million Pathology
investment
As part of the Trust’s reconfiguration
programme £3.3 million has been spent
on transferring all of Histopathology and
Microbiology to City site.
Two wards at City have been transformed into
state of the art labs for Histology and Cytology.
The majority of Haematology and Biochemistry
have also been transferred from Sandwell to City
site, leaving a mini-lab open 24 hours a day at
Sandwell.
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Rob Ashley, Pathology Divisional Manager,
enthused: “There have been big changes in
Pathology over the last year with the opening
of these two new labs and the expansion of the
department. The reconfiguration has generated
both efficiency and financial savings in line
with the national Pathology Modernisation
programme.”