The haemostasis laboratories at the Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles hospitals are already benefiting from Stago’s STA R Max 2 analysers. Four systems have been installed (two in each hospital) and are expected to be fully operational this month.
The STA R Max 2 was developed for high-volume laboratories and its clot detection technology, high throughput and unique pre-calibration helped Stago win third-party supplier status in the recent tender for pathology services by Cwm Taf University Health Board.
Another stand-out feature according to Richard Davies, blood science site manager at Royal Glamorgan (pictured, front right), is Stago’s “unique approach” to the way it developed its software. “NHS laboratories today face the continuous challenge of delivering accurate and fast patient results while keeping compliant with the demands of ISO standards and having confidence in the comparability of results. Stago’s software anticipates our needs in an easy and intuitive way while allowing us to tailor specific requirements using expert rules in, for instance, the STA Coag Expert.”
Accurate assessment of a patient’s clotting risk factor is challenging for NHS laboratories, with the sensitivity and specificity of D-dimer testing varying between manufacturers. Mr Davies commented: “It is here that the STA R Max’s pre-calibration feature scores, delivering greater confidence in results especially in relation to D-dimer testing where there is still no international standardisation for these assays.”
Mr Davies also referred to the ‘ease of use’ and ‘reliability’ of the hardware. “The haemostasis team at Prince Charles was new to Stago and has found the systems extremely easy to adjust to,” he said. “Verification testing at both laboratories demonstrated the significance of the VBDS technology, making it possible to overcome optical detection issues on our previous analytical platform.”