PRE-ANALYTICS
Baseline estimated daily GP U&E deliveries
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Optimised estimated daily GP U&E deliveries
Estimated daily GP U&E deliveries – cumulative percentage
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Estimated daily GP U&E deliveries
Fig 1. Transport rescheduling improved specimen arrival times.
specimens in large peaks towards the end of the day, extending processing windows to outside of core working hours. This not only stretches workforce capacity, it also introduces unnecessary stress into already pressurised environments. Take urea and electrolyte (U&E) specimens, for example. By reviewing delivery data and aligning transport schedules with demand, we helped one NHS trust significantly increase the proportion of specimens arriving within core hours. This simple shift allowed laboratory teams to spread workload
more evenly, reducing backlogs and improving staff wellbeing.
Optimisation of pathology services invariably requires an assessment of pre-analytics, including transport and logistics. Figure 1 depicts a DataViz output informed by urea and electrolyte (U&E – as a proxy indicator of clinical biochemistry requesting from primary care) delivery rates per hour to an NHS pathology service in England (‘baseline’ histogram). Reviewing transport requirements, informed by primary care activity and pathology workforce and
B: Vit-D – Count of GP tests per 1000 patients per month per Trust
8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00
0 Trust
infrastructure insights, permitted the development of optimised scheduling of transport for primary care pathology specimens that can smooth the receipt of these specimens in the pathology department (optimised histogram). The cumulative percentage of related specimens received over a current and optimised transport schedule further demonstrates the shift in specimen reception towards traditional or routine working hours that can support staff experience and further optimise pathology and post-analytical processes.
Improving specimen integrity and turnaround times Beyond workflow, transport modelling also improves specimen integrity. In one case, optimising collection and delivery schedules reduced the median time from venipuncture to laboratory receipt by over 25%. As a result, turnaround times (TATs) improved across all phases, including collection, delivery, and result reporting.
In diagnostics, minutes matter. Fig 3. Benchmarking Vitamin D requesting across Trusts highlights different requesting behaviours. 44
Faster processing can lead to earlier interventions and help prevent avoidable harm. Reducing the age of a specimen isn’t just operationally efficient; it’s clinically safer.
SEPTEMBER 2025
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Tests per 1000 patients
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