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St.Vincent’s Healthcare Group
Clinical Biochemistry Department
Blood Transfusion Department
Staff
Staff
158
General
Service Development/Activities
The major developments in 2003 were:
•Commissioning of the new mortuary, which was completed
in 2003.
•Commencement of the detailed planning process for the
equipping and commissioning of the new pathology
department.
Quality Improvement/Accreditation
Further progress was achieved in the pathology accreditation
project in 2003 with the implementation of the Office for
Health Management e-learning Personal Development Planning
Programme. The programme, which was piloted with a group
of fifteen staff,will be further rolled out in 2004. Personal
Development Planning (PDP) is being implemented to comply
with the Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) requirements
for staff appraisal/annual joint review.
A number of laboratories within pathology including,
Histopathology, Haematology, Blood Transfusion and the
Chemistry Group applied to CPA (UK) for inspection with
assessment visits scheduled for 2004.In addition to the
pathology accreditation project,a number of pathology staff
have been actively involved on the hospital accreditation
programme.
Quality Assurance
Department of
P a t h o l o g y
Departmental Review
All laboratories in the pathology department continue to
participate in relevant external quality assessment (EQA)
schemes.An end of year review of departmental EQA results
by the Pathology Management Committee indicates that all
laboratories are performing satisfactorily in their respective
schemes.Results from EQA schemes are available to users on
request.
The pathology department internal audit process continues to
be implemented with various vertical and horizontal audits
scheduled on a regular basis. The results from the audits form
the basis for various quality initiatives.
Departmental Statistics
The growth in service activity continued in 2003 with a 2.8%
increase in workload. External activity, i.e. workload from
general practitioners and external hospitals increased by 8%
during the period.
Future Plans
The main priorities for pathology in 2004 are:
•To advance the quality improvement accreditation project
with the commencement of CPA inspection of laboratories
in 2004.
•Planning and commissioning of the new pathology
department.
Administration
There was a sizeable turnover of clerical/administrative staff in
2003 and the following new Grade III Clerical Officers were
appointed to Pathology: Louise Sweeney, Sheila McKeon,Fiona
O’Neill and Ornella Evangelista.
Laura Conroy, Grade IV Officer in Biochemistry, commenced
Year 1 of the Diploma in First Line Management held in SVUH
by the National College of Ireland.
Theresa Ward and Maureen O’Brien registered with the e-
learning Personal Development Planning Programme on The
Office for Health Management website and set personal
objectives to be completed in 2004.
Staff also participated in the Mission Effectiveness Programme.
Phlebotomy
An important development for Phlebotomy in 2003 was the
announcement by the Department of Health of a national
phlebotomy training programme. St.Vincent’s University
Hospital has been chosen as one of the sites piloting the
programme.A site accreditation process is currently being
finalised which is scheduled for implementation in 2004.
Paula O’Shea left for a Senior Biochemist position in the
Metabolism Laboratory after 18 years in SVUH.Ms.Myra
O’Keane filled her position.
Service Developments/Activities
In 2003 the Biochemistry Department greatly extended its
involvement in Point-of-Care Testing (Near Patient Testing).
Following the installation of a new Point-of-Care Glucose
Monitoring System throughout the hospital,Biochemistry staff
have taken on the role of monitoring and auditing the quality of
glucose analyses. In addition,Biochemistry staff are now
involved in the maintenance and quality assurance of blood gas
analysers in A&E and ICU, together with training of new users
of the analysers.
Our service to the Cardiology department has been further
increased with the provision of high sensitivity CRP (a new
cardiovascular risk factor) for the Cardiac Rehabilitation
Programme and for the Heart Failure Unit in St Michael’s
Hospital.
Future Plans
In 2004,it is intended to evaluate the usefulness of Ischaemia
Modified Albumin (IMA) as an early marker of cardiac
ischaemia,in conjunction with the A&E Department. We also
plan to introduce BNP (B-natriuretic peptide) as a new
diagnostic test for heart failure, which has the potential to
significantly reduce the number of patients admitted for more
costly investigations such as echocardiograms.
Outstanding/Significant Achievements
Mr. Rowland Reece was elected Hon.Secretary of the
Association of Clinical Biochemists in Ireland (ACBI).Ms Myra
O’Keane obtained a MSc. in Biomedical Science (Clinical
Chemistry) from the University of Ulster.
Dr. Sean Cunningham delivered a presentation entitled
"Implications of the new diagnostic criteria for myocardial infarction
and acute coronary syndromes" at the Annual Joint Meeting of
the Association of Clinical Biochemists in Ireland (ACBI) and the
Northern Ireland region of the ACB (UK)
Mr R.Reece delivered a presentation entitled "Quality Issues in
Clinical Biochemistry" at a Roche Users Conference.
Lesley Hopkins returned in December from her two and a half
year career break.Deirdre O’Neill commenced her Masters in
Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.
Denise McHugh commenced her Masters in Blood Transfusion
and Transplantation at Bristol University. Eithne Cullinan joined
the Department as Transfusion Surveillance Officer. Denise
McHugh became Denise Neary and with the co-operation of
our colleagues in the Haematology laboratory all of the staff in
the Blood Bank were facilitated in witnessing the happy event in
Westport.
Service Developments
The laboratory in collaboration with the Irish Blood Transfusion
Service undertook a pilot study on hospital red cell inventory
management.The aim of the project was to improve stock
management,reduce operating costs and improve the quality of
the product to the patient.The early indicators are very
encouraging with considerable savings to both parties.
The laboratory and the hospital participated in the national
near miss project undertaken by the National Haemovigilance
Office.The hospital based transfusion surveillance officers
developed further nurse training in transfusion practice.The
hospital Transfusion Committee have been working on a patient
information document on receiving a blood transfusion and
intend to publish it in 2004.
Outstanding/Significant Achievements
Sandra Doyle presented at the International Society of
Thrombosis and Haemostasis in Birmingham. P.O’Brien
presented a poster on Risk Management in the Blood
Transfusion Laboratory at the Annual Meeting of the
Haematology Association of Ireland. Laboratory staff
participated at the IBTS workshops on Inventory
Management, CJD and blood supply.
Future Plans
Directive 2004/23/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of the
European Union which passes
into Irish Law in February
2005 will very much
influence the
future
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