Hospital Receives CPA Compliancy

Horiba Medical has installed an ABX Pentra 60C+ benchtop haematology analyser and Pentra SAfe solution in the A&E department of Watford General Hospital which is part of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which meets full CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) requirements. Staff are running up to 80 samples a day on the analyser, taking pressure off the busy central laboratory and meeting recommended 4 hour targets for Accident and Emergency patients.

“In order for our POC haematology analysis to be fully CPA compliant we had to make some changes”, explains Jo Nicholson, Special Haematology Section Manager at Watford General Hospital. “We needed an analyser that would provide comparable results to the laboratory with a 5-part differential. We also needed a system that would link with the laboratory information systems (LIMS) and keep a record of all results. Finally, we required password protection and user ID so that we could track and manage operators and ensure only trained personnel were using the analyser.”

“We had been working in partnership with our customers in a variety of POC settings to trial a new solution for POCT providing password protection, remote monitoring and full audit”, explains Simon Aylen, Technical Support Specialist at Horiba Medical - UK. “As a result of this evaluation programme we were pleased to launch the Pentra SAfe solution for Horiba Medical CPA compliant haematology and clinical chemistry analysis. Our objectives were to ensure quality results and patient safety wherever our analysers were placed outside of central hospital laboratories.”