Birmingham NHS trusts select Citadel Health to reshape pathology

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust are set to deploy Citadel Health’s Evolution vLab laboratory information management system (LIMS) across all of its pathology services.

The move will provide a fully-managed, multi-site and multi-discipline LIMS which will enable increased testing capacity and improve efficiency, safety and quality outcomes. In addition, it will provide a comprehensive data capture functionality and enhance the delivery of complex integrations which will improve turnaround times.

The trusts needed to find a solution to support greater collaborative working across eight sites in Birmingham and Solihull. At the same time, there were multiple legacy LIMS that needed consolidating. The introduction of Citadel Health’s LIMS will see improved collaboration across sites and standardise workflow and data. It will also increase the level of automation across all divisions of the labs.

Matt Boazman, chief officer for strategy & innovation at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “As a specialist provider of cutting-edge care, having the latest and best pathology services is essential. This investment will make our systems even more efficient and help improve the experience of our patients and those we care for across the region and the country.”

A number of departments will be connected via the LIMS, including microbiology, cellular pathology, blood transfusion, blood sciences, toxicology and genetics. It will be integrated with existing capabilities and by supporting the transition of data, services, workflows and functionality will help deliver safe, timely and high-quality clinical care to patients.

Craig Webster, director of pathology at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, added: “We’re very proud of the quality of care we provide and are continuously seeking ways to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients. With this LIMS solution by Citadel Health, we can increase our testing capacity and workflow efficiency, delivering welcome quality and safety improvements.”

The new LIMS will also support the move to a regional integrated care system (ICS).

Stephen Lynch, executive general manager at Citadel Health, said: “We are excited to be embarking upon this partnership with Birmingham and Solihull ICS, linking together pathology services for England’s largest population outside London. It’s very encouraging to see Birmingham and Solihull accelerating moves towards better integrated care.”

The move by the Birmingham trusts move to Citadel Health’s LIMS follows on from the provider’s recent appointment to transform NHS Wales’ entire pathology network.