Point-of-care blood gas testing improves patient care in Cambridge

The point-of-care testing (POCT) team at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for all POC diagnostic testing performed throughout Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals in Cambridge, as well as being commissioned to deliver a POCT service at nearby Papworth NHS Foundation Trust.

Cambridge University Hospitals is a large, internationally renowned teaching centre. Addenbrooke’s Hospital provides emergency, surgical and medical care for the local population and is also a regional centre of excellence for specialist services such as organ transplantation, neurosciences, paediatrics and genetics. On the same site, the Rosie Hospital is a specialist women’s hospital and a regional centre of excellence for maternity and neonatal care. Located in the village of Papworth Everard, Papworth Hospital is a leading specialist cardiothoracic hospital and the UK’s main heart and lung transplant centre.

Point-of-care testing across both sites includes blood glucose testing, full blood counts, dipstick tests, coagulation monitoring, blood gas analysis, other critical care parameters and some microbiology tests. The responsibilities of the team include maintenance of equipment and consumables, and management of quality control, external quality assessment (EQA) and staff training/retraining. In addition, the team manages the use of pregnancy testing by GP practices and has a service level agreement (SLA) with the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) for health check monitoring. This contract includes the supply of equipment, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and consumables, and the management of QA and training.