Olympus is pleased to announce that Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust in the UK, which covers Hexham, Wansbeck and North Tyneside General Hospitals, has awarded a 7-year Managed Service Contract to Olympus Diagnostics Ltd. The MSC award includes Olympus Immunoassay, Clinical Chemistry and Automation products, in addition to Process Improvement Analysis consultation and the refurbishment of new laboratory facilities. This MSC is also the first order to include the new AU3000i Immunoassay system – three of which have now successfully gone live at the Trust.

The decision to award Olympus this significant MSC contract was taken based on the excellent track record for service and reliability that the company already had with the Trust. “We have been using Olympus clinical chemistry analysers for 7 years now and Olympus’ support and understanding of laboratory issues is very reassuring,” commented Ron Harris, Laboratory Manager Northumbria NHS Trust. “The quality and accuracy of Olympus systems also played a significant role in our decision making process.”
This MSC procurement will increase the Trust’s pathology test capacity and maintain turnaround times through improved sample handling. The complete implementation of equipment and laboratory refurbishment is being phased over a six-month period across the three hospital sites within the Trust. The Immunoassay phase is already complete and all three sites are now successfully running ‘live’ on the AU3000i.
Due to the excellent working relations that it already had with Olympus, the Trust is confident that the new AU3000i immunoassay analyser will prove equally as reliable and accurate as the AU clinical chemistry analyser family. The site had also previously undertaken an 18-month evaluation of the new analyser with sample comparisons meeting targets and its ability to run 200 tests per hour in routine operation confirmed.
“Despite the fact that the AU3000i is very new to the market, we knew that we could rely on Olympus to support and provide us with a highly reliable front line immunoassay system,” added Ron Harris. “The go live has been smooth and the analytical performance in terms of sensitivity and accuracy is very good.”
In addition to the three new AU3000i immunoassay analysers, other Olympus systems to be installed at the Trust as part of the MSC include: AU5420, AU2700 and AU680 clinical chemistry analysers; OLA automatic sample handling workstations; PAW peri-analytical workstations and Olympus Data Wizard data management systems.
“The smooth and successful ‘go live’ of the three new AU3000i immunoassay analysers in routine pathology represents a significant milestone in our MSC relationship with Northumbria NHS Trust,” said Kaye Walton, Product Manager - Immunodiagnostics & Automation, Olympus. “We are looking forward to many more years of excellent working relations with the Trust.”

Please contact:
OLYMPUS LIFE SCIENCE EUROPA GMBH
Esther Ahrent
Department Manager Marketing Communication
Tel: +49 40 2 37 73 - 5426
Fax: +49 40 2 37 73 - 4647
E-mail: diagnostics@olympus-europa.com
www.olympus-europa.com