Lab put under the microscope

Public can tour £17.5m centre
HIGH-TECH facilities at the Royal Oldham Hospital’s pathology laboratory will come under scrutiny tomorrow as part of a behind-the-scenes tour.

The lab is opening its doors and inviting the public to a free tour between 2 and 4pm.

The tour marks National Pathology Year 2012 and is the latest in a series of Medicine for Members events run by the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital.

The event will give visitors an overview of pathology — the branch of medicine concerned with the cause, origin and nature of disease, including the changes occurring as a result of disease.

Opened in 2008, the £17.5 million central pathology laboratory is a state-of-the-art three-storey facility and one of the largest laboratories of its kind in the UK.

The trust’s laboratories perform some 20 million tests for the Greater Manchester population, with over 80 per cent of medical diagnoses being based on a pathology testing.

In December, 2010, the trust announced it had been chosen by the Association of Greater Manchester Primary Care Trusts as the provider for cervical cytology services across all 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) across the region.

Samples, which include smear tests which women have had taken at GP surgeries, hospital outpatient appointments or community clinics, are taken to the specialist cytology laboratory at the Royal Oldham Hospital where they are processed.

These samples are screened using the latest technology and individual reports issued detailing the result of the screen and any follow-up actions the patient requires.

Len Fielding, the trust’s pathology directorate manager, said: “The key driver for us is that patients get accurate results quickly, secure in the knowledge that the individuals screening their specimens are experts.

“This year is National Pathology Year and marks the 50th anniversary of The Royal College of Pathology and 100 years of biomedical sciences.

“This event offers a great opportunity for the public to see how our pathology laboratory functions and what we do here.”

To book a place on the pathology laboratory tour contact Angela Greenwood on 01706-517302 or email ft.membership@pat.nhs.uk.