Integrated Pathology Partnerships (iPP) works in partnership with the NHS to deliver pathology testing services, conducting more than 24 million tests a year across the UK.
We work with iPP in Essex, transporting various samples – including blood, urine and tissue – from seven hospitals and around 300 surgeries across the Southend and Basildon trust region to the testing facility in Basildon.
Due to the sensitivity of the samples, we have just a four-hour window from the time the Phlebotomist takes the sample, to the time we deliver to the lab, otherwise, they may need to be re-taken – a costly exercise adding extra time-scales for patients and doctors.
This is achieved with our fleet of temperature-managed vehicles, complete with tracking and monitoring, and a team of highly-trained drivers.
Chain of Custody
The importance of sample management is paramount for each collection.
All samples are entered into our bespoke monitoring system on the collection, which tracks the time of collection and delivery.
This way, the lab is automatically alerted if any sample goes beyond the four-hour time window and they know what to expect when the delivery is made.
Measuring Success
As this is such a time-critical process we’ve invested in live reporting technology, and work closely with iPP, constantly looking for improvements for collection and delivery, and together addressing any issues that may arise.
As well as running live data on samples, we produce a KPI report on every delivery and are the first company to report on, and improve, the collection/delivery process in this sector.
During 2018 (Jan – Sep), we achieved an average of 99.31% rate of samples delivered within the specified timescales of the contract.
