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The Association for Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Medicine | Issue 639 | July 2016

ACBNews

About ACB NewsThe Editor is responsible for the finalcontent. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the ACB. EditorProfessor Jonathan BergDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryCity HospitalDudley RoadBirmingham B18 7QHTel: 07792-912163/0121-507-5353Fax: 0121-507-5290Email: [email protected]

Associate Editors Mrs Sophie BarnesDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry12th Floor, Lab BlockCharing Cross HospitalFulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8RFEmail: [email protected]

Dr Gina Frederick Pathology Laboratory, Level 5Royal Derby HospitalUttoxeter RoadDerby DE22 3NEEmail: [email protected]

Mr Ian HanningDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryHull Royal InfirmaryAnlaby RoadHull HU3 2JZEmail: [email protected]

Dr Derren Ready Microbial DiseasesEastman Dental Hospital University College London Hospitals (UCLH) 256 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8LD Email: [email protected]

Situations Vacant AdvertisingPlease contact the ACB Office:Tel: 0207-403-8001 Fax: 0207-403-8006Email: [email protected]

Display Advertising & InsertsPRC Associates Ltd1st Floor Offices115 Roebuck RoadChessingtonSurrey KT9 1JZTel: 0208-337-3749 Fax: 0208-337-7346Email: [email protected]

ACB Administrative OfficeAssociation for Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Medicine130-132 Tooley StreetLondon SE1 2TUTel: 0207-403-8001 Fax: 0207-403-8006Email: [email protected]

ACB PresidentDr Gwyn McCreanorTel: 01536-492692Email: [email protected]: @ACBPresident

ACB Home Pagehttp://www.acb.org.uk

Printed by Swan Print Ltd, BedfordISSN 1461 0337© Association for Clinical Biochemistry &Laboratory Medicine 2016

ACBNews

General News page 4

Practice FRCPath Style Calculations page 10

Education Matters page 12

Promoting Clinical Science page 15

Meeting Reports page 16

Corporate News page 19

ACB News Crossword page 20

Situations Vacant page 21

Issue 639 • July 2016

The monthly magazine for clinical science

Issue 639 | July 2016 | ACB News

Front cover: Staff from MeetingMakers at the end of their lastFocus meeting in Warwick

Consultant Clinical Scientist Appointments

4 | General News

ACB News | Issue 639 | July 2016

ACB ExtrasAll members of the ACB, excluding Federation and non-subscribing retired members,

have access to ACB Extras, a portfolio containing discounts designed to support you professionally and personally. There is no sign up process for most

membership categories – you are automatically eligible by virtue of your ACB membership. �

SudokuThis month’s puzzle

Last month’ssolution

The workforce team at RCPath are keen topromote the service of Job Description Review and College representation at ClinicalScientist Interviews, to mirror the service thatis available for medical appointments. Over the last year Reshma Patel, Workforce

Coordinator, and her team dealt with over 300 medical appointments for all pathologydisciplines but only 5 Consultant ClinicalScientist appointments.If you are appointing to a Consultant post,

Job Description Review and Collegerepresentation on the AppointmentCommittee (AAC) can be requested byemailing [email protected], includingdate, time and venue for the AAC. Followingadvertisement and date setting, the College

will identify an assessor (this applies toEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland). These assessors are full members of the AACand will advise on the suitability of thetraining and experience of candidates forappointment, and feedback information fromthe appointment committee to the College.This enables the name of the successfulapplicant to be reported in the CollegeBulletin as well as helping to collect importantdata for future workforce planning. TheCollege website has resources availablerelating to Clinical Scientist Job Descriptionreview – please see ‘Workforce’ in the ‘For theProfession’ section. If you have any queriesplease contact Avril Wayte at the RCPath:[email protected] �


6 | General News

Following the development of a marketingand communications strategy during 2015 ACB Council and Executive have madestrenuous efforts to improve communicationswithin the Association. A major aim is to getthe most out of our regional structure in orderto understand what the members are thinkingand looking for from their membership as wellas to improve the ways in which centraldecisions are taken and policies developed.The key points include:

� Making sure we retain our members.

� Encouraging recruitment to theAssociation.

� Making it easier for members to engagewith the Association and its activities.

� Ensuring that best use is made of theservices of the ACB Office.

Retaining our Members

Our membership numbers are falling. This iscaused in part by the large numbersapproaching retirement age coupled withreduced recruitment into the profession. We also recognise that we need to retain theinterest and involvement of all the membersand be sure that our activities reflect – and areseen to reflect – their needs and aspirations. Within our regions we need to encourage

the committees to be attentive to their localcolleagues and to identify any widely heldconcerns or misconceptions. The concerns needto be passed on to our Council and Executiveso that they can be addressed and theresulting actions reported back to themrapidly – again making use of our regionalnetwork as well as modern rapidcommunication channels such as social media. Social media also offer the ability for

members to raise issues directly, but thepersonal contact afforded by our regionalnetwork should help to bring concerns to thesurface without the need for individuals toidentify themselves.

Encouraging Recruitment

The changing ways in which LaboratoryMedicine is organised in the UK (as well as inother countries) with diminishing demarcationbetween traditional professional boundaries,coupled with increasing financial constraintson laboratories and on the association itselfmean that we need to expand ourmembership to reflect those changes. Ourchange of name and reform of our criteria formembership have moved us forward but wehave a long way to go. Our regional networkis again a vital tool with which to identify localpossibilities and potential difficulties. Inparticular the local knowledge of new recruitswill help us to approach those people andencourage them to join us.It is particularly important for us to ensure

that members from disciplines other thanbiochemistry are fully involved andrepresented to succeed in our ambition torepresent “Laboratory Medicine”!

Facilitating Participation

An important way of serving and retainingmembers is to encourage their participation inlocal and national activities such as meetings,committees and working groups. It isrecognised that it is becoming increasinglydifficult for members to undertake suchactivities that may be considered outside theirnormal day to day work duties. In the past,many aspects of “association” work wereconsidered part of, or essential to, professionalduties and responsibilities but NHSmanagement in times of restricted financestends to divorce itself from these matters –even though they may be fundamental togood practice.This has been reflected in the increasing

difficulty in encouraging members to becomeinvolved in things like our committees, expertpanel, and so on, and to attend regional andnational meetings. We must, therefore,endeavour to minimise the time membersneed to devote to such things. Most

Improving our Internal CommunicationsBy Joe O’Meara

committees now conduct much of theirbusiness through teleconferencing or on-linemeetings, for example. We also try to“bundle” activities together if at all possible sothat the number of times travel is required areminimised.Organising more of our activities on a more

regional basis might make it easier formembers to be involved and so reverse thetrend of reducing engagement by members inour activities. It is to be hoped that thisapproach will also allow us to enhance anddevelop our expert panel and to encouragegreater participation by members inimmunology, microbiology and otherdisciplines.

ACB Office

The Association needs to maintain anadministrative office to undertake the variousfunctions required of a limited liabilitycompany such as maintaining statutoryrecords, managing finances and filingaccounts. Pressure on the office has increasedin parallel with the pressures on all businessesand on the Health Service. The office alsogenerates income for the association byundertaking administrative work for similarorganisations. It is important that we use thisresource effectively both to reduceexpenditure and to support our membershipand our regional networks.In order to improve communication and

understanding between regions and the officeand we have recently started cataloguing thevarious services the office can provide andupdating the associated operationalprotocols.The number and complexity of work streams

is such that so far this has only extended toupdated guidelines for the core services offinancial management and meetingorganisation. These were supplied to Regionsat the Council meeting in March for reviewand feedback. More will follow.

Work in Progress

OfficeFurther work is in hand to provide furtherdetail of the office services relating to regionalactivities.

Web-based calendarThere have long been problems with meetingclashes and overlaps. A central calendar ismaintained by the ACB Office but this requiresmeeting organisers to send information whichthen needs to be acted upon. Whendeveloping the communications andmarketing strategy it seemed to be a goodidea to provide a readily accessible web-basedcalendar to which local meeting organiserscould post tentative meetings as well as thosethat have been confirmed themselves. Thiswould also allow organisers to see what othersalready have planned or are thinking about sowe might avoid duplication. A potential open source software solution

has been identified and was demonstrated toCouncil at its last meeting. We are working onthe technical issues around incorporating intoour website and hope to introduce it in thenear future after a trial period to confirm itsviability. We believe this will be an importanttool to ease the planning and organisation ofall our meetings – administrative as well asscientific – and to make the informationrapidly and comprehensively available to themembership.

Expert Panel

The revitalised panel is expected by ourstrategic plan to play some very importantroles in the organisation. Some of these relateto its original purpose of engaging with themedia, informing the public and press andraising our public profile. In the presentcontext, newer roles envisaged are to providenetworking for members developing theirresearch interests and mentoring on particulartopics for those coming to the end of theirinitial training and beginning to developspecialist interests. This will be organised on aregional basis to increase involvement andencourage participation. �

General News | 7


8 | General News


Our front cover this month shows members ofthe Meeting Makers team at Focus in Warwick.Vicki Grant and her team have been workingwith the ACB on the Focus meeting now sincethey organised EuroLabFocus in 2005 inGlasgow. After what was an extremelysuccessful meeting the company took on theorganisation of the Focus meetings. Their firstFocus meeting was in 2006 in Brighton withPete Wood as Chair. However, this was a timewhen ACB Members were coming underincreasing pressure in their laboratories, with NHS Trusts becoming much less happy tosee key laboratory scientists taking time tohelp with scientific meeting organisation.This was also a fast developing era with

email having largely replaced post and fax andwith much of the practical aspects of themeeting moving to the internet. There wereother improvements to meeting organisationsuch as electronic abstracts which behind thescenes took a lot of work to use in a robust

way. Vicki was quietly professional andbrought together an increasingly familiarteam to work on the registration desk eachyear. Looking back at the initiatives to usesocial media to help with aspects of themeeting Vicki says that “the membershiphaven’t been hugely engaged with this but wehave certainly tried”.In recent years the main challenge has been

steering Focus through a drastically changingenvironment especially with changes withinindustry and the downstream impact on theexhibition that has resulted. ACB News would personally like to thank

Meeting Makers for their professionalism andhuge efforts to help us produce friendly,dynamic and memorable scientific meetingsover the last twelve years. �

Thanks to Meeting Makers for theirProfessional Focus

Vicki Grant, the calm professional face of ACB scientific meetings since 2005

Pete Wood thanks Meeting Makers at the closingceremony of their first Focus meeting in Brighton

10 | Practice FRCPath Style Calculations


Your Consultant Endocrinologist has expressed concern that two blood glucose monitors on hisward are yielding discrepant results. As part of your investigation you perform replicatemeasurements on a QC material on both instruments with the following results:

Number of results (n) Mean (m) Standard deviation (s)Instrument 1 5 5.6 0.12Instrument 2 7 6.0 0.14

Does this data support his suspicion?

Two tailed t-distribution:

The obvious approach is to compare the two means using a t-test. The principal is that thedifference between the two means will form a Gaussian distribution and if this difference isinsignificant then their difference will not differ from an overall mean of zero (the null hypothesis).When dealing with mean values their variation (i.e. standard deviation of the sampling distributionof the mean) is described by the standard error (SE) which is dependent on the sample size (n) usedto calculate the mean:

SE = s/√n

The value for t will be given by the difference between the two means (m1 - m2) divided by thestandard error of the differences (SEdifference):

t = m1 - m2

SEdifference

SEdifference will be a combination of the individual standard errors of the two means. The way inwhich this is done is controversial and the approach used depends on whether the standarddeviations of the two means are significantly different. This could be formally evaluated using avariance ratio test but the difference is unlikely to be significant if the ratio of the larger to thesmaller value is less than 2.

Whenever two results are added (or subtracted) the standard deviation of the result is the squareroot of the sum of squares of their individual standard deviations. The same applies to standarderrors:

SEdifference = √ (SE12 + SE22) = √ (s12/n1 + s22/n2)

P

0.10 0.05 0.02 0.01

9 1.833 2.262 2.821 3.25010 1.812 2.228 2.764 3.16911 1.796 2.201 2.718 3.10612 1.782 2.179 2.681 3.05513 1.771 2.160 2.650 3.012

Degreesoffreedom

Deacon’s Challenge No 182 - Answer

N.B. the square of s/√n (i.e. s/√n x s/√n) is s2n.

So that the expression for t becomes:

t = m1 - m2

√{(s12/n1) + (s22/n2)}

with n1 + n2 - 2 degrees of freedom

Substituting into this expression:

t = 5.6 - 6.0 = -0.4 √{(0.122/5) + (0.142/7)} √(0.00288 + 0.00280)

= -0.4 = -0.4 = - 5.31 (the negative sign can be ignored)√0.00568 0.0754

The degrees of freedom (d.f.) = n1 + n2 - 2 = 5 + 7 - 2 = 10

From tables the probability (P value) of obtaining a t value greater than 5.31 by pure chance is lessthan 0.01. Therefore there is a significant difference (taking a P value of 0.05 as a decision level) inthe mean values obtained with the two instruments. Whether or not this difference actuallymatters cannot be determined from statistical tests!

Practice FRCPath Style Calculations | 11


Question 183A medical team is considering a change of screening strategy for a disease X. The traditionaltest A has a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 60% for disease X. A new test B has beenintroduced which has an increased specificity 75% for this disease but a reduced sensitivityof 75%. Calculate the positive and negative predictive values for each test for a populationin which X has a true prevalence of 10%.

FRCPath, Autumn 2001

ACB Chemical Pathology SpR/Consultant Meeting

Tuesday 22nd November 2016The above meeting will be held at the

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Mayo Building, Humphrey Booth Lecture Room 1, Salford M6 8HD

The registration fees are: £20.00 for ACB Trainee & Retired Members,

£40.00 for ACB Members, (£60 for Non-Members)

Please visit the ACB National Meetings page for the current programme, registration form and online payment

This year the annual ACB conference, Focus2016, was held in the leafy surroundings of theWarwick University campus. The university wasfounded in 1965 as part of the Labourgovernment’s plans to expand access to higher education and has since grownsubstantially in both size and academicstanding and currently accommodates over23,000 students and sits within the top 10 inmajor UK league tables. For those who maynot have visited before the campus is notactually in Warwick but instead just outsideCoventry, nevertheless everyone seemed tofind their way there eventually.

More Interesting Answers as Evening Wore On

As always, the conference kicked off with theACB Training Day and Trainees’ Dinner thenight before. It was hosted by Neil Anderson,Director of Coventry and WarwickshirePathology Services and Chair of the FocusOrganising Committee, and Finlay MacKenziefrom NEQAS. Together, the hosts did a goodjob of keeping everyone entertained with aquiz served up in-between courses of excellentfood. The answers got more ‘interesting’ asthe night progressed, though not necessarilymore correct! The dinner was an excellentopportunity to see friends and colleagues andalso to meet some of the other trainees fromaround the country in a more social capacity.

I’m sure we speak for everyone when we say agood time was had by all.

Standardisation of ImmunoassayThe next morning we were all pleased to see aspread of tea and coffee, biscuits and pastriesawaiting us, always a welcome sight! The firsttalk was given by Dr Alan Jones, a ConsultantChemical Pathologist from Birmingham, on thesubject of lipids. Dr Jones gave us a thoroughrefresher on the use of lipid measurement incardiovascular risk assessment, the currentideas surrounding lipid modification therapyand the evidence which does, or interestinglyin some cases does not, support this. He thenwent on to talk about some of the morerecent successful and unsuccessfuldevelopments in the management of lipiddisorders, such as PCSK9 inhibitors and anti-sense oligonucleotide therapy, andcurrent and recent clinical trials evaluating thesafety and efficacy of these novel therapies. The second talk of the morning was given

by Dr Les Perry, a Consultant Clinical Scientistfrom Croydon, on the subject ofstandardisation of immunoassays and shortsynacthen tests. The lecture kicked off bycovering a range of issues associated withimmunoassay standardisation including sampleinterference, matrix effects, antibodyspecificities, heterogeneity of analytes andbinding protein effects. The second half of the

12 | Education Matters


Focus 2016 Training DayJoseph Taylor, Liverpool & Emma Smith, Bristol

lecture focused on cortisol and the shortsynacthen test, including an interestingdiscussion on whether laboratories should bereporting gender-specific references ranges forcortisol, and the issues associated with cortisolmeasurement in the laboratory. Also discussedwas the recent Roche Gen II cortisol assaywhich promises less cross reactivity and betterperformance, but may lead to a change inreported reference ranges due to a reductionin bias compared to the previous method. A number of us present at the training day usethe Roche platform in our laboratories andhave either moved to using the new assay, orsoon will be, and as such it was a very usefulinclusion. Dr Perry also promoted the latestedition of ‘The Immunoassay Handbook’edited by David Wild as an excellent tool forthose trainees studying for FRCPath exams.

Use of Statistics in Clinical Science

After lunch the day continued with apresentation from Dr Sarah Cotterill of theUniversity of Manchester. Her talk covered theuse of statistics in laboratory medicineincluding the basics of how to select, applyand interpret the most appropriate statisticalanalysis for a given task, for example methodevaluation. Dr Cotterill talked us through anumber of different study types, includingcase control studies, diagnostic accuracystudies and clinical cost effectiveness studies,and discussed the most appropriate statisticalanalysis in each case. She also provided someexcellent explanations of ROC curves andintroduced us to the STARD checklist forreporting diagnostic accuracy. With anaudience from diverse backgrounds, and at anumber of different points within theirtraining, the topic of this talk was no doubtuseful as many will become involved inmethod evaluation and have to completeresearch projects as part of their training.

Interactive Duty Biochemist Scenarios

The penultimate session was delivered by Ms Elizabeth Davidson, a Consultant ClinicalScientist from Viapath, who covered someFRCPath style data interpretation andcalculation questions. She began with a recap

on the calculation of sensitivity and specificitybefore moving on to other parametersincluding positive and negative predictivevalue and positive and negative likelihoodratios and how prevalence can affect thesemeasures. Although they may seemstraightforward to some, these commoncalculations can be easily confused and are atopic where people always welcome revision.Next she covered more analytically basedcalculations, for example how to calculateanalyte concentrations from a limited set ofmass spec data within the time constraints andpressure of an exam. Always seen as adaunting prospect, FRCPath calculations aresomething we all have to deal with at somepoint and Ms Davidson provided attendeeswith several tips to make the tasks seem lessintimidating and provide that little extra timethat might be needed in an exam.

Duty Biochemist Scenarios

The task of rounding off the day fell to Dr Karen Smith, a Clinical Scientist fromBirmingham, who led us through a series ofinteractive duty biochemist scenarios. Whethercompletely new or just a refresher, thesescenarios were appropriate to individuals in allstages of their training and took quite a focuson things which might not be seen routinelybut we definitely need to be aware of. All trainees were provided with numberedcards to hold up in answer to questions, which was an excellent way of encouraging

Education Matters | 13


participation in a fun and informal manner.Scenarios included common causes of pre-analytical errors, for example EDTAcontamination, and how to spot them, thecommunication of abnormal results and acouple of extended cases of interference infree thyroid hormone assays which definitelygot everyone in the room scratching theirheads in thought.After all the lectures had finished it was

time to say goodbye to those not staying forthe rest of the conference and for those thatwere a relaxing drinking in one of the campusbars, taking advantage of those studentprices! A big thank you must be given to thosewho organised this years training day formaking sure it ran smoothly, to everyone whopresented on a variety of interesting topics

and of course to Warwick for use of theirexcellent facilities. The consensus wasdefinitely that this years training day was bothinteresting and useful. �

14 | Education Matters


Promoting Clinical Science | 15


As STP Clinical Scientist trainees we are alwayslooking for an opportunity to educate thepublic on the job that we do, as many peopleare unaware even of our existence! A group ofus at the North Bristol NHS Trust recently setup a healthcare science information stand inthe foyer of the Brunel building at SouthmeadHospital, and we attracted a flurry of interestfrom patients and NHS colleagues alike. Our idea was to set up the stand to provide

information to hospital staff, visitors, andpatients about the job roles that we do andthe career opportunities that exist inhealthcare science. We had trainees from awide variety of disciplines, including genetics,microbiology, urodynamics, biochemistry, andmaxillofacial prosthetics so we were able tohighlight the many different jobs that we do!We had a lot of interest from patients at thehospital, especially regarding genetics as this isa topic that many people are aware ofthrough news and media coverage, and weeven had some patients asking about geneticdiseases they or their family have experienced.

Help With ‘Uni’ Choices!

We displayed posters, picture cards andquizzes to provide information about variousdiseases and laboratory tests, as well as theactual career itself, offering information onthe qualifications required and therecruitment and training pathways inhealthcare science. This proved to be veryinteresting to a number of staff and patientsasking on behalf of their teenage childrencontemplating university choices, and we evenhad some interest from staff membersconsidering a change of career themselves. It was fantastic to be able to educate peopleon a potential career that they were previouslyunaware of. We had a range of factsheets andcareer leaflets to give out, as well as somepathology stickers and pens which were verypopular with both adults and children alike!

We also managed to recruit the mediadepartment who came to take some photosand advertise our stand on social media, whichproved to be a great way of attracting extrainterest in our stand.

Multidisciplinary STPIt was great to have the opportunity to speakdirectly to the public about the fantastic workcarried out every day by healthcare scientists.It was of particular enjoyment to those of uswho are more laboratory-based withoutregular patient contact in our working day,and we found it very interesting andrewarding to be able to spend time chattingto patients. It was also very beneficial for us astrainees to spend time together – we work ata large teaching hospital and as such we arebased across a number of different buildingsand areas, with some of us having not met theother STP trainees before. It was excellent to make some new contacts

and share our different experiences of thetraining programme. The event proved to bevery successful and as trainees we found it tobe both an enjoyable and rewardingexperience. �

Bringing Healthcare Scienceto the Public Emma Smith, North Bristol NHS Trust

The day was organised by Catherine Dixon(Respiratory and Sleep Science) and run by CharlotteTudgay, Rachel Dodds, Hazel Pearce (Genetics), AidaHidalgo-Arroyo (Infection Sciences), Emma Smith(Clinical Biochemistry) and Alexandra Bacon(Urodynamic Science)

16 | Meeting Reports


Although it may seem a distant memory to usnow, Clinical Scientists from around thecountry gathered on a sunny Sundayafternoon in July last year at the University ofSurrey to commence the well-renowned ACBmanagement course. The first talk on Sunday evening was given

by the ACB president, Dr Gwyn McCreanor, on the historical perspective of the NHS. This provided us with a platform on which tosee how we have arrived at the NHS structureof today. Following on from this, we were assigned

our project groups for the week. Our projecttitles ranged from mass centralisation andmerging laboratories to community hospitalpathology support and delivering pathologydirect to patients. All of these topics wereparticularly pertinent to anyone undergoingthese changes within their laboratories (orworking towards their FRCPath). Each groupwas asked to produce a presentation for theend of the week in our spare time … so thiswas why previous attendees had said it wasgoing to be a ‘full-on’ week!

Structures and OrganisationThe course covered a wide breadth of subjectsincluding NHS structure, management styles,finance, R&D, personal skills, as well asinteractions with commercial partners. Mostsessions had an interactive componentallowing us to put the knowledge learnt intopractice, as well as giving us the opportunityto share the experiences, anecdotes andperspectives of other delegates. It is perhapsthis practical aspect in particular that makesthe course so rewarding. Monday sessions focused on the current

structure and organisation of both the NHSand Pathology. The morning session providedinsights into the relationship between theDepartment of Health, NHS Trusts, CCGs andGeneral Practice as well as flows of funding,accountability and regulation. In theafternoon session, we looked at differentapproaches to delivering Pathology services, in terms of structures, staffing, serviceimprovement. We learnt about managementtools such as lean, six sigma and process

ACB Management Course Emma Ashley and Rachel Wheeler, South-West London Pathology

Meeting Reports | 17


mapping, and with the help of some tennisballs, we did our best to put some of theseideas into practice! In the evening, we had anegotiation exercise, overseen by Geoff Lester(Federation of Clinical Scientists). Whatseemed like a straightforward task soonbecame divisive and competitive, and it wascertainly not easy to reach a conclusion. But itprovided plenty of material for discussion in afollow up session later in the week.

VAT and MSC ExplainedThe Tuesday morning lectures allowed us todevelop an understanding of research anddevelopment within the NHS including whereand how to successfully apply for funding,research ethics and how differentorganisations support research withinhealthcare. The afternoon shifted to managedservice contracts (MSCs) and the tenderprocess. This was a particularly relevant topicto many people and we had many questions.We learnt about some of the financialimplications e.g. VAT incentives to MSCs, andheard about some of the common pitfallswhen creating an MSC. We then tried to draftour own MSC notice (OJEU advert), which wasnot an easy task, as it required very carefulwording. The session was extremely useful butcould potentially have been biased as thespeakers were from the corporate sector.Feedback from hospital laboratories who hadundergone the MSC process may have painteda different picture? On Wednesday we looked at finance,

including handling departmental budgets,costing tests and procuring equipment. Sue Alexander (Royal Marsden Hospital) gavean excellent practical talk peppered with realanecdotes from her experience of handling adepartmental budget. Another useful topiccovered was the composition of business cases. We were then given some scenarios and cost

figures to put it all into practice e.g. creating acost benefit analysis for providing a qualityassurance service for local point of caretesting, to be submitted as part of a businesscase to the CCG. The afternoon session focusedon ‘people’, which was a welcome changeafter all the number crunching. We discussed

our negotiation exercise from earlier in theweek, and then talked about management ofstaff relations, including relevant legal aspects,with the help of case studies.Wednesday evening was another interactive

session aptly named ‘Question Time’.Delegates had submitted questions for thepanel, which consisted of esteemed membersof the profession: Suzy Lishman (President ofthe Royal College of Pathologists), MikeHallworth (former Consultant ClinicalScientist), Geoff Lester, Matthew Hopkins (CEO Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHSTrust) and Stuart Quinn (CEO IntegratedPathology Partnerships). Questions covered awide range of topics, including pathologyprivatisation, NHS funding, serviceprioritisation, and ended with eachindividual's personal favourite lab test.Thursday covered management and

leadership styles including the use of theMyers-Briggs personality type exercise. This provided an insight into the type ofleader we might be and how we can harnessthis knowledge to form and maintainproductive relationships with colleagues. We also gained an understanding of thecompetencies required for effective clinicalleadership and how to develop thesecompetencies. The ‘NHS Leadershipframework’, a valuable guide to the leadershipskills required in the NHS, was alsoincorporated into this session.

Running Again in 2017!After an enjoyable dinner with drinks inGuildford on Thursday evening, Fridaymorning was all about our grouppresentations that we had been preparing forfeverishly in our spare time throughout theweek. The panel included the President of theNational Association for Patient Participation,the Scientific Director for NHS South ofEngland, the Director of Surrey PathologyServices, a HR manager and a ChemicalPathologist. After a 20-minute presentation onour assigned topic, each group underwentrigorous questioning regarding the solutionsproposed to the problem set out in the initialremit.

18 | Meeting Reports


We found this course extremely rewardingand would like to thank the organisers forcreating such an excellent programme. The talks were all very relevant, particularly inlight of our recent re-configuration of servicesin South West London Pathology, and wouldbe useful to senior clinical scientists from alldisciplines. Delegates on our course were fromdifferent disciplines (though mainlybiochemists) and represented a range of agesand experience. Throughout the course therewas great enthusiasm and passion from boththe speakers and attendees. The manypractical sessions gave us a chance to put the

information into practice immediately andhelped to reinforce our learning. Changing the groups round every day meant that wehad met every delegate by the end of theweek. Although it may not have been easy to be

away from work/home for a whole week, thecourse was certainly worth the time investedin it. In fact, we wondered whether one day‘top-up’ or mini-courses could be created,covering the various topics separately becauseit is clear that management in the NHS willcontinue to change over time under successivegovernments. �

Old men look on while the new young blood of clinical science have a selfie!

Meet the Any Questions Panel

19 | Corporate News


Left to right: Brigitte Fernandes, Director, Roche Molecular Solutions; Christopher Parker, Managing Director RocheDiagnostics UK and Ireland; David Brayshaw, Directorate of Laboratory Medicine, Central Manchester UniversityHospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Tim Binnewise, Director of Technical Services, Roche Diagnostics; and CaroleMcGowan, Deputy Directorate Manager, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Major investment by Central ManchesterUniversity Hospitals NHS Trust is set to bringmajor benefits to more than a million patientsit treats every year. A new £95 millioninvestment in laboratory testing anddiagnostic services at Central ManchesterUniversity Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust willmake a major impact on the wide range ofgeneral and specialist services who come fromall over the Greater Manchester region andbeyond.The Trust has awarded their pathology

contract to Roche Diagnostics following acompetitive tender process. The vision of thenew contract is to transform every aspect ofthe modern laboratory and will work with thecompany to ensure that its pathology servicesare high quality, sustainable, and at theforefront of technology.The partnership is the result of a four year

pathology supplier partner that would becapable of supporting the Trust with theinnovation and flexibility required to make itslaboratory services world class. Professor BobPearson, Medical Director at the Trust, saidthat they are developing “progressive and

integrated pathology services that will supportand enhance patient care at our hospitals andprovide improved outcomes” and “facilitateour research and development agenda”.Christopher Parker, Managing Director

Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland, said “Roche are delighted to be supporting one ofthe most innovative and progressive pathologyteams in the country as they deliver quickerand more accurate results”. �

Manchester PathologyInvestment

Christopher Parker, Managing Director Roche DiagnosticsUK and Ireland and David Brayshaw, Directorate ofLaboratory Medicine, Central Manchester UniversityHospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Crossword | 20


Last month’s solution

Across1 First fast ion method for my helpmate to

modify (5,10)8 Deadliness is initial training objective before

team meets town (8)9 Expire though formerly fit (6)11 Nose about for ages (4)12 Spent frugally, as anyone with doubtful

income does (10)14 Vary filling rate to macromolecule

separator (3,10)17 Instruments misreport costs per metre (13)21 Kick-started new testing aid (10)23 Common pathogen found even in food of

the gods (4)26 Commercial about two-dimensional puzzle

caused surprise (6)27 Face fine after dealing with stimulant (8)28 Macromolecule separator – possibly the idle

processor not dead (15)

Down 1 Mechanic improved in health (6)2 Not so anxious about plant hormone (5)3 Inscribe synonym in a set chemistry text (4)4 Japanese multinational success with a life force (7)5 Saw old machine gun (5)6 Broadcasts upset administrators (not radio) (9)7 Giving up producing (8)10 Contingent measure (4)13 Superabundance of courage holding front line (4)14 Brightness range of woven Argyles, CE marked (9)15 Compass of some Shakespearean sonnets (4)16 Inspire a sad parasite (8)18 Type of examination of the mouth (4)19 Perhaps see why a pharmacological irrigant is

nonsense (7)20 Coats hens? (6)22 Dinner party ran dry,

departed (very tactless) (5)24 Opt out of protein needing endless controls (5)25 Some Rastafarians came from there (4)

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ACB Summarised Focus Training Day Thanks to … · Meeting Makers North Bristol Communicates Pathology to the Public ACB Management ... London W6 8RF Email: [email protected]