A challenge to help the transformation of pathology companies throughout Northern Eire has been accomplished, with the go-live of a laboratory info administration system (LIMS) on the remaining two well being and social care trusts.
Western Well being and Social Care Belief and Southern Well being and Social Care Belief applied the Clinisys WinPath LIMS of their microbiology, blood sciences, and blood transfusion companies on the finish of April 2025.
Jennifer Welsh, senior accountable proprietor (SRO) of the Northern Eire Pathology Data Administration System (NIPIMS), mentioned that the completion of the roll-out “marks a significant milestone within the transformation of pathology companies throughout Northern Eire”.
“For the primary time, each well being and social care belief is working from the identical fashionable laboratory system, creating a really related service that places sufferers first.
“This achievement is the results of distinctive teamwork throughout trusts, particularly our laboratories in addition to our companions, and I wish to sincerely thank everybody who performed an element.
“With this basis in place, we will now look ahead to delivering even better advantages – from decreasing repeat testing to supporting clinicians with quicker, extra full info, and ultimately enabling improvements like vein-to-vein monitoring,” Welsh added.
Western Well being and Social Care Belief and Southern Well being and Social Care Belief had gone reside in mobile pathology at an earlier stage of the CoreLIMS programme to deploy the LIMS to all 5 territorial trusts and the Northern Eire Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS).
Beforehand, each organisations have been utilizing a system developed by the Enterprise Companies Organisation (BSO) that was 30 years outdated and on the finish of life.
CoreLIMS was developed by the BSO to help Northern Eire’s pathology transformation programme, by changing a mixture of in-house and legacy programs with a LIMS designed for contemporary pathology networks.
Karen Bailey, chief govt on the BSO, mentioned: “For the primary time all our trusts are working from a single, fashionable laboratory info system, a testomony to the extraordinary efforts of the groups throughout each area.”
Clinisys gained the contract in October 2021 and the primary part of the challenge was accomplished when Belfast Well being and Social Care Belief and South Jap Well being and Social Care Belief went reside in November 2023.
The second part was delivered in June 2024, when the NIBTS and mobile pathology companies went reside, adopted by a go-live at Northern Well being and Social Care Belief in October 2024.
Karin Jackson, SRO of CoreLIMS and chief govt of NIBTS, mentioned: “The completion of the CoreLIMS roll-out opens the door to future enhancements in how we handle and ship important blood parts throughout Northern Eire.
“We are able to already see actual advantages from this funding with streamlined workflows throughout all companies, together with transfusion.
“It has been a formidable achievement, significantly given the complexity of the programs and processes concerned.”
The implementations needed to be built-in with the embody system, which went reside throughout Northern Eire in Might 2025 to supply a single, digital well being report for each citizen.
