The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) has announced the winners of its Achievement Awards. Six RCPath Achievement Awards were presented this year, four 'Team' awards and two awards for in the new category of 'Sustainability'.
Pictured above are members of the winning teams, who received their awards at the College's Annual Dinner in June.
Liverpool Clinical Laboratories Infection and Immunity Research, Development and Innovation Team
The Infection and Immunity Research, Development and Innovation team at Liverpool Clinical Laboratories, in collaboration with the Centre of Genomic Research, University of Liverpool, have established a novel 16S Oxford Nanopore sequencing assay in routine clinical usage with a turnaround of 24 hours for urgent samples. This is the first time in the UK that an assay of this type has been made widely and routinely available to all patients including hard to reach populations such as paediatrics and the immunosuppressed.
Medical Examiners’ Office hosted by Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHSFT
The Medical Examiners’ Office team hosted by Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have created a dynamic, outward looking department where building a service from scratch, they have designed a paperless system for receiving referrals with sufficient electronic data for proportionate scrutiny, and an accessible database. They have also built strong working relationships with stakeholders including registration services and individual GP practices through in-person visits and virtual support.
North West London Pathology Team
North West London Pathology Team successfully completed a digital transformation project completely replacing and updating their Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from a collection of wildly different legacy systems spread across seven sites. Together with the replacement and standardisation of lab software and equipment, the team completed their six-year project within budget despite COVID-19 upheaval, spiking workloads, and resistance from some quarters.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Cellular Pathology
Through the adoption of lean methodology and the pioneering implementation of digital pathology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Cellular Pathology Team have revolutionised service delivery, transforming the entire diagnostic pathway of a large acute teaching hospital. With the successful scanning of 100% of cases and over 95% of consultants reporting digitally, it has emerged as a leading Trust in digital pathology implementation. They have also embraced innovation through implementation of AI- driven decision support tools, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and patient case outcomes.
Sustainability awards
Mediclinic Middle East Laboratories Management
Changes in the provision of healthcare is affected by advances in medical science and technology. The Mediclinic Middle East Laboratories Management Team has placed emphasis on key objectives for the clinical laboratory services namely to: ensure quality and efficiency; respond quickly to the needs of clinicians and patients; drive profitability; and achieve sustainability. The team was able to drive down energy consumption through the reduction of the number of analysers deployed leading to a lowering of over 53.6% in regent consumption and 61% reduction in reagents storage space. In addition to an over 57% reduction in consumption of water and electricity.
Synnovis Transformation Team
The Synnovis transformation team comprises scientists, project managers and NHS pathologists. Together, they have delivered a hub and spoke laboratory model improving the quality and consistency of pathology services for southeast London. The new hub will deliver a net carbon saving of 180 tonnes CO2e per year and a further 250 tonnes will be saved from wider improvements in the network provision. The hub laboratory meets the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) excellent sustainability criteria and will be ranked among the top 10% of commercial buildings within the UK.
Highly commended in the Sustainability category were:
- Black Country Pathology Services Team
- MSE Pathology IT Transformation Team
- PathWest Translational Research Group
- Swansea microbiology medical student clinical apprenticeship team