Opened in August 2008, The Aldershot Centre for Health is the largest primary healthcare centre in the UK, occupying an area the size of two Wembley football pitches! It brings together primary healthcare services and NHS primary medical services to the local population of Aldershot. This cutting edge ‘polyclinic’ is now delivering a variety of services including three GP practices, dental services, clinicians, counsellors, community nurses, doctors and a pharmacy.
“By placing the ABX Pentra 60C+ in this exceptional primary care setting we are seeking to ensure that we continue to lead the way in the delivery of POC testing to ensure excellence in patient care,” explained Lynda Petley, Point of Care Manager at this progressive Trust. This is the latest area to be developed and administered by the Frimley Park POC team to greatly benefit from rapid access to patient blood test results. “Having already established an excellent blue print for haematology POC testing in a variety of hospital settings, we are delighted that this facility has seamlessly transferred to a primary care environment. This will result in a considerable reduction in patient waiting times improving the patient experience.”
Fully validated haematology results are now available from the ABX Pentra 60C+ in just 8 minutes of a whole blood sample being taken from a patient within the phlebotomy suite at the Aldershot Centre for Health. “Having fast track results is extremely beneficial to patients in terms of their overall journey,” continued Lynda Petley. “Return visits are minimised when diagnostics are available as a one stop service. This is far more convenient for the patient who has to organise time off work and car parking for each appointment. Fewer visitors to the facility is also good news for infection control.”
“The availability of rapid diagnostic tests near the patient is crucial in supporting the movement of services from secondary to primary care. The Point of Care services we provide give a flexible and adaptable approach to meeting our users’ needs. The ABX Pentra 60C+ is part of this approach,” said Dr Ian Fry, Director of Pathology, Partnership Pathology Services, a joint venture between Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust.
The ABX Pentra 60C+ is a highly compact benchtop haematology analyser from HORIBA ABX which can be easily operated routinely by trained Medical Technology Officers (MTOs). With outstanding technical capabilities it can provide consistently good quality and accurate results which are essential for POC situations. As the only compact POC haematology system to uniquely offer a 5-part cytochemical differential for white blood cells, the ABX Pentra 60C+ is also ideal for analysis in Oncology and is particularly useful for monitoring patients receiving chemotherapy for malignant diseases.
“We are delighted that the installation of the ABX Pentra 60C+ adjacent to the phlebotomy suite at this cutting edge primary healthcare centre can enhance the quality of service delivered to patients and has become an integral part of improved healthcare by providing laboratory quality results in a POC setting,” said Vanessa Chomyn of HORIBA ABX.
There are six ABX Pentra 60C+ analysers in action around Frimley Park and the Royal Surrey Hospitals, including one in A&E. All are interfaced with the respective laboratory information system (LIS), so results are available ‘on screen’ throughout each hospital. The introduction of haematology POC areas has certainly raised overall awareness of the benefits of bringing testing closer to the patient in the hospital, and now even to the patient in a GP’s surgery.
www.horiba-abx.com/uk
As experts in blood analysis, for over 10 years HORIBA ABX UK has been directly supplying and supporting haematologists and clinical chemists throughout the UK. From compact point of care analysers to high throughput systems, HORIBA ABX has successfully developed an array of haematology analysers to meet all needs and enable analysis anywhere it is required. Looking after these customers and at the foundation of HORIBA ABX is its excellent service and support network, this UK team is made up of 27 personnel.
In addition to large NHS laboratories, HORIBA ABX systems are found in many areas of point of care and specialist testing, including A&E, sports science and health and safety. Its benchtop analysers, such as the ABX Pentra 60 C+ for haematology and ABX Pentra 400 for chemistry analyses, are proving their worth in these environments due to their exceptional flexibility and ease of use.
HORIBA ABX Diagnostics is one of the five major operators in the automated haematology analyser market. Employing over 900 people worldwide, the company produces 6000 tonnes of reagents and 7000 automated systems for blood analysis, i.e. 25% of the global annual production of haematology analysers. This makes HORIBA ABX the leading developer and manufacturer of haematology diagnostic systems in the world.
