Successful change management: an example from East Anglia

When a laboratory embarks on a lengthy procurement process for new equipment, the focus inevitably falls on the tendering process, the specification, the bidders and the finances. What is often ignored is the impact that the transition will have on the laboratory staff.

This was not the case in the haematology department of Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, as chief biomedical scientist John Butcher explains: “The tender for new automated solutions for the routine laboratory was first issued in October 2010 and the overall outcomes that we were looking for were i) to reduce sample handling, ii) maintain or improve the quality of service, iii) introduce full automation for full blood count (FBC) processing; and iv) redeploy staff to other areas where there were shortages, away from automation.

“This last point was particularly important to us as we haven’t been able to replace departing staff for some time and we wanted to make the best use of the staff that we had. Only one provider was able to meet all of the requirements to our satisfaction and this meant leaving our previous supplier, with whom we had dealt for 50 years.”