A preferred supplier has been selected to deliver an £11.5 million contract for a single laboratory information management system (LIMS) across the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network.
Magentus was chosen to help provide the solution, following a competitive procurement process run by Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of Cheshire and Merseyside Diagnostics.
The LIMS will be hosted by Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and used by pathology services in the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network, with the intention of helping patients across the region benefit from quicker test results and improved access to pathology services.
Dr Lisa Bailey, clinical lead at the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network, said: “The network wide Cheshire and Merseyside LIMS will provide a resilient, future proof system that will allow standardised clinical and working practices across the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network.
“It will improve patient safety by utilising one clinical record and allowing access of patient’s results across the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network to clinicians and laboratory staff.
“This will reduce unwarranted variation, improve the turnaround time of the tests, reduce repeat testing and support demand management of requesting.
“The clinical, scientific and LIMS implementation team along with Magentus are excited to implement new and innovative ways of working, which the new system will allow.”
The solution will connect five pathology laboratories from Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Countess of Chester Hospital, Wirral University Teaching Hospital and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts, as well as Liverpool Clinical Laboratories, part of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Christine Kelly, programme director for LIMS at Mid Mersey Digital Alliance, said: “The new solution will allow tests to be taken anywhere across the Cheshire and Merseyside Pathology Network and the results be available to all of our health care providers within the network.
“This will prevent the need for any duplicate tests and clinicians will have a full history available of all tests when they are making decisions about a patient’s care.”
The LIMS system is planned to support approximately 2,000 staff in delivering up to 53 million pathology tests every year to a population of 2.7 million people.
Christopher Ladds, chief executive, clinical diagnostics at Magentus, said: “We are thrilled to support Cheshire and Merseyside in advancing toward a unified pathology service – a critical step aligned with the NHS Long Term Plan.
“This project demonstrates the pivotal role of technology in driving productivity across the NHS. We are proud to deliver a solution that meets the growing demand for seamless clinical collaboration across diagnostic networks.
“This initiative by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside sets a new standard for efficiency and equity in healthcare, ensuring a better experience for lab professionals, frontline staff, and patients alike.”
In March 2024, three NHS Scotland boards went live with a LIMS provided by Magentus, after NHS Scotland awarded its national laboratory medicine framework to Citadel Health in July 2022, which was later acquired by Magentus in May 2023.
