As of summer 2023, Health Services Laboratories, an innovation-led provider of pathology and diagnostic services, and Automata Technologies, a life-sciences automation company, have partnered to speed up turnaround times for pathology and diagnostic services.
Preventative healthcare benefits of diagnostic services
According to NICE, 1.2 billion pathology tests are estimated to be carried out each year in England, with 95 % of clinical pathways relying on access to pathology services.
Health Services Laboratories (HSL) is a leading provider of a wide range of pathology and diagnostic services, spanning all disciplines.
The HSL and Automata collaboration has seen the development and implementation of an automated system to streamline sample storage and sorting. The collaboration seeks to reduce inefficiencies related to manual processing, in order to get results into patient’s hands faster.
The value of automation
Historically, storage and sorting processes in diagnostic labs have been highly labour-intensive, limiting throughput and turnaround times.
Now, the HSL process runs overnight, with the automated platform feeding testing vials into storage racks, assigning test results to vials within a rack, and separating vials into different result groups. All this is achieved without manual intervention, facilitating 24/7 operations, and leading to faster turnaround times and throughputs than were previously possible.
Results processed faster as patients sleep
Pathology screening is a key lever for preventative healthcare. Increasingly, we are seeing higher demand for faster turnaround times. This is where innovation and automation like Automata’s is so vital. In partnership with Automata, we are speeding up diagnosis and treatment by running the automation platform overnight and increasing the volume of our testing capabilities."
Daniel Frayne, Director of Performance Projects, Health Service Laboratories
With automation, organisations like Health Services Laboratories have the potential to increase turnaround time, improve data quality and boost throughput. We are delighted that our technology is supporting efficient and consistent diagnostic capabilities for the NHS."
Mostafa ElSayed, Co-Founder and CEO of Automata
Automata LINQ; Unlocking open, integrated lab automation