Path Links: why a managed service contract?

What was the motive for changing, and how did you go about it?
Our introduction to managed service contracts (MSC) came at the time of embarking on a major equipment replacement programme for haematology, clinical chemistry, immunoassay and pre-analytical systems in 2006. While we had not included provision of an MSC as a mandatory requirement of the procurement process, we were conscious of their growing emergence across the NHS and, specifically, their successful application in pathology.

What is the scope of the new project?
From the initiation of Path Links as a single managed pathology service in 2001, it was always our intention to align our major equipment procurement cycles concurrently, which occurred for the first time in 2006. For haematology, we were seeking to replace our Horiba Pentra 120/120R analysers across our six laboratory sites, and extend our requirements to include automated slide making and staining, and advanced data management.

Furthermore, Path Links had already embarked on a Lean implementation project, supported by US-based consultancy Argent Global Services, which incorporated the development of a single high-volume ‘capacity laboratory’ as a strategy to meet continuing growth in activity. The ‘capacity laboratory’, based on the model at the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, incorporates Lean work cells as the functional units of the blood sciences laboratory. Our analytical requirements were for flexible but discrete systems in both haematology and chemistry as opposed to highly automated tracked systems.