Hospital laboratory services vital for good patient care

©Press Eye Ltd Northern Ireland - 28th February 2012 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye. Health Minister Edwin Poots launches tobacco strategy for Northern Ireland. The new strategy has three main objectives to reduce the numbers of people in Northern Ireland smoking , to encourage more smokers to quit and to afford greater protection for the whole population from tobacco-related harm. Edwin Poots pictured at the launch.

The Minister was speaking as he visited the Northern Trust’s pathology laboratory.

He said: “Hospital laboratory services play a vital role in ensuring patients are quickly and correctly diagnosed and receive the best possible care. Often the work done by the staff working in our laboratory services is invisible to patients and the public, but without their knowledge, skill, and expertise, our health service would be unable to deliver the quality of care and treatment that we all expect.”

Around 80% of all clinical decisions are based on laboratory results, with the Antrim and Causeway laboratories processing in excess of three million tests per year.

Jim Carson, Clinical Director for Laboratory Services in the Northern Trust, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome the Minister to the pathology laboratory to show the critical work undertaken and the role laboratory staff have in the overall patient experience. Staff have welcomed the opportunity to show the Minister the different methods used to help diagnose and predict the effectiveness of targeted therapies, providing clearer information on potential treatment options. By providing clinical results swiftly, the laboratory can help to ensure patient treatment begins sooner which significantly impacts on patient outcomes.”