Pathology News

Encouraging the Pathologists of tomorrow

What do you get when you cross a frog with a pathologist? The answer was at the Thackray Museum of Medicine this half term…

Our colleagues in Pathology have been doing some fantastic work supporting the Thackray with their ‘Behind the Microscope’ exhibition. It follows the story of real-life pathologists as they examine bodies, organs, and disease at the smallest scale. There were also a number of fun and interactive activities for children and young people to take part in, and we shared information about careers in pathology.

Thank you to everyone involved, including Liz Bolton-Speight, Project Manager - Future Pathology Services, who co-ordinated our input, and the Cell Path team who lead the bookable sessions. Brilliant team working and promotion of what we do in Pathology here.

Behind the Microscope runs until 31 August – plenty of time to go and visit!
_____________________________________________________________

Clinical Genetics Celebrates Rare Disease Day

28th February was Rare Disease Day. This is an important day of recognition for families who have (or are at risk of) a rare disease. As 72% of rare diseases are genetic, it is also and important day for the team at the Yorkshire Regional Genetics service (based in CAH) who work hard to support these families in their search for a diagnosis. 

Emma, Lauren, and Steph (Genetic Counsellors), along with the other members of the team decided to celebrate by decorating the department and by coming to work in their favourite stripey/bright coloured clothing. 

#shareyourstripes #shareyourcolours

_____________________________________________________________

Pathology lab progress update

Over at the new pathology laboratory at St James’s, the majority of the windows and glazing have now been installed. Construction of the new facility will complete in the summer and staff will begin a phased transition into the building at the end of the calendar year following the installation of high-tech equipment and technology. 

A lot of the Trust’s pathology services are currently delivered in outdated facilities at the Old Medical School (OMS) at the LGI. The OMS will be going to market for sale later this year as part of a plan to use surplus estate at the LGI to develop an innovation village which is expected to deliver up to 4,000 new jobs and an economic boost of almost £13 billion for our region.
_____________________________________________________________

Construction begins on new lab for urgent testing

Last week, our Finance Director, Simon Worthington met with members of the pathology team as construction of our new Acute Hospital Laboratory (AHL) began at the LGI. 

The 24/7 operated AHL is being built on A Floor Jubilee Wing. It will provide urgent pathology facilities to clinical teams at the LGI when the main pathology service relocates to the brand-new state-of-the-art pathology laboratory currently under construction at St James’s Hospital. 

Completing in summer 2023, the AHL will co-locate Blood Sciences and Blood Bank together in one purpose-built facility but to ensure there is no disruption to the service during the works, the Blood Bank team moved to a temporary lab within the LGI last month.  

Take a look at what the new AHL will look like in the video here.
___________________________________________________________________

Temporary decant lab becomes operational

Earlier this month, our Blood Bank team began their temporary move into our new ‘decant’ laboratory on A Floor Jubilee Wing at the LGI.

This is to allow for the construction of our new, Acute Hospital Laboratory (AHL) which is on the same floor and will start next month. The works are scheduled to complete in the summer 2023. Once complete the AHL will co-locate Blood Sciences with the Blood Bank together within one purpose-built laboratory.

Pathology is one of the key projects in Leeds Teaching Hospitals’ Building the Leeds Way Programme of capital investment and improvements across the Trust.

It will consolidate pathology services at LGI and most of those at St James’s University Hospital (SJUH) into one purpose-built laboratory at SJUH, with advanced equipment and technologies to support leading-edge testing and diagnostics. The AHL will provide essential pathology facilities to support clinical services at the LGI when the main pathology teams transfer to the new pathology building throughout 2023 and 2024 following the installation of new, high-tech equipment.

Don’t hesitate to email the team at newpathologysjuh@nhs.net if you have any questions.
___________________________________________________________________

‘Topping-out’ our new pathology laboratory

On Tuesday, we celebrated a very significant milestone in the building progress at our new pathology laboratory at St James’s, which is set to support improvements in diagnosis for people right across our region. To mark the completion of the roof on the new building, we held a ‘topping-out’ ceremony where staff and our partners were invited on a tour and to sign the concrete stair core leading to the roof. We were also pleased to welcome Cathy Elliott, Chair of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and Lisa Griffin, Regional Pathology Transformation Lead at NHS England to the event. Take a look at our latest time-lapse footage on YouTube which shows the finished roof!

Building completion is planned for the end of summer 2023 and set to become fully operational by the end of next year with Pathology services transferring throughout 2023 and 2024 following the installation of new, high tech equipment.
___________________________________________________________

Pathology Time Lapse

The steel frame structure of our new, state-of-the-art pathology laboratory at St James’s is now complete, marking another significant milestone in the delivery of the project which is set to support improvements in diagnostic testing across our region. 

Footage captured by our time-lapse camera shows the steel frame being built around the lift and stair cores, with BAM Construction having completed the 10-week process on the building’s main structure. 

Building completion is planned for the end of summer 2023 and set to become fully operational by the end of 2023 with services transferring throughout 2023 and 2024.

The new facility will become part of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Pathology Network, and will support the delivery of pathology services across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.  
___________________________________________________________________