Abbott MSC is a winning solution for the University Hospital of South Manchester

The Biochemistry Department at the University Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM) has taken advantage of an automated track system and Managed Service Contract (MSC) from Abbott, allowing the team to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of pathology services. Dave Tierney, Head Biomedical Scientist, explained the benefits of the Abbott MSC: “Through the MSC, we were immediately able to make 22 % savings in non-pay daily running costs, both from an improved contract and by rationalising services from other analytical platforms. There have also been significant secondary benefits from being able to reallocate staff to other areas within the lab, and we have made further considerable savings by incorporating third party suppliers within the managed service contract.”

Michelle Miller, Chief Biomedical Scientist with responsibility for automation and point-of-care testing, described the advantages of the new system from an operational perspective: “We wanted a complete end-to-end solution, where we put a sample on one end and literally never touch it again. We visited several sites using varied manufacturers to get a good overview of the installation process, the general efficiency, and how well systems integrated into sample reception. The Abbott solution was definitely a clear winner for me. It is very easy to configure and control the sample runs, and the use of pucks makes the system far faster than other options. The software is very easy to navigate and it punches the work out during the day; it is a very slick system.”