A-190 Successful Completion of a Large-Scale Pathology Service Transformation - our Keys to Success

Abstract Background Synnovis supplies core pathology services to six hospitals and 175 family doctor services to a population of 2 million people in southeast London, and reference services to more than 1000 healthcare providers across the UK. In 2021, we commenced a large-scale transformation from the legacy distributed model, where each hospital had its own laboratory services, to a new hub and spoke model. Methods This huge undertaking will complete in 2025 and to capture and share learning from the transformation process we have documented our five “Keys to Success”, as set out below. Results Clear Vision and Benefits Stakeholder buy-in is a necessary first step and to achieve this we described to our customers and staff a detailed description of the future model including the location and services that would be available in the hub laboratory. We communicated the benefits to our customers: improved service quality and better value for money, and to our staff: modern working environment and increased potential for innovation. Clinical Leadership Since doctors are renowned for having strong options, we appointed senior and respected doctors drawn from the six hospitals we serve to be Strategic Clinical Leads, one for each pathology discipline. Their role was to consult with their clinical colleagues and provide consensus opinions to our transformation team to ensure decisions were clinically appropriate and acceptable. All decisions were required to be evidence based and to provide value to the healthcare system. Test and Platform Harmonisation A single version of each test and test panel was agreed and a single platform was identified to supply each test. For example, we precisely defined what component assays a liver function test comprised and offered this standard panel, performed on the same type of chemistry analyser, to all requesters across in the six hospitals and family doctor practices. This allowed comparison and trending of test results across our network and provided economy of scale. LIMS Alignment We change from over sixty separate laboratory information systems (LIMS) to a single core LIMS. This was greatly simplified by having first completed the test and platform harmonisation step above. The benefits of the single modern LIMS included better security and support as well as significantly improved management information to help optimise our processes. Programme Management Underpinning the transformation was the use of established project management techniques led by a Project Management Office. Key techniques included mapping critical paths, risk, issue and dependency management, the use of Gantt charts and adopting an agile approach where required. Service migrations were done in phases and were governed by a robust readiness framework including readiness assessments and Early Life Support used to minimise impact during cutover and monitor the stabilization of services post transformation. Conclusion Adopting the “Keys to Success” outlined above has enabled us to complete the desired transformation and deliver the promised benefits to the National Health Service, our staff and the patients we serve.