Use of the CEREBRO specimen tracking system in histology

The importance of accurate and efficient processing of irreplaceable Histology specimens is well known. The Cellular Pathology department in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GG&C) receives an annual workload of circa 100,000 histology specimens; therefore the ability to track an individual specimen through the histology process is only achievable with an electronic tracking system

As part of a laboratory strategy to support a major re-organisation of NHS GG&C’s Acute Services (including a £1 billion hospital modernisation programme), Cellular Pathology services were centralised in June 2012 from six sites to a single site located in a new state of the art laboratory building on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus.

The combined repertoire of the new centralised department is detailed in Table 1.

Service migration

Centralisation of services from six Pathology sites to a single site presented both significant challenges and opportunities. The main challenges can be summarised as follows:

• Disparate standard operating procedures on all sites
• Different management structures, training and quality management processes
• Variation in the Histology equipment used across the sites
• Developing optimum working patterns to manage the expected workload
• Staff challenges with transfer to the new site (working patterns, travel arrangements).

Migrating to a single site thus presented key opportunities to harmonise and standardise working practices, and remove inherent inefficiencies and duplication in the service provided across NHSGG&C. The above challenges were addressed by setting up working groups who reviewed and standardised procedures prior to service migration to the new lab. This was supported by implementation of a new management structure within Pathology.

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