Northern Pathology Victoria is moving in the right direction when it comes to efficient laboratory practices with the aid of the Abbott GLP Track.

Following the lab transitioning to an in-house service at Northern Health in 2019, a milestone in itself, plans were being made to upgrade the equipment to help streamline the laboratories workflows.

Northern Pathology’s principal scientist Niki Lee commented, “We’ve had lots of interest from other public pathology labs wanting to come and view the track, I think we’re one of the best labs out there.”

The track itself, the first in Victoria, is fully automated and includes various modules dedicated to specific tasks along the samples journey. Reading barcodes, weighing, de-capping test tubes and splitting tubes into sub-samples (Aliquots) are just some of the pre-analysis tasks it can do.

“Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be able to integrate a new hematology analyser to the system, adding to our existing analysers along the track,” said Mr Lee.

The system is fully upgradable and expandable, with the ability to grow with the service as required, but the real heroes of pathology are the people. The GLP Track is able to take on some of the essential yet mundane elements of the process, freeing up the staff to focus their efforts and expertise on other pivotal moments in the lab.

“Because the track picks up errors earlier in the process, staff enjoy a more efficient workflow and that leads to better patient flow throughout the hospital,” Mr Lee added.

Northern Pathology Victoria continues to forge ahead. Thank-you for your innovation and your tireless testing.

Featured image: Northern Pathology staff leading the way.