Queen’s Hospital brings allergy testing in-house with Siemens Immulite system

7 Feb 2011

Queen’s Hospital in Romford, UK, has brought its allergy testing in-house to deliver cost savings and improve outcomes.

To manage the new service the biochemistry team integrated the testing alongside routine work on the existing Immulite 2000 System from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics by utilising the Siemens 3gAllergy test.

The decision to bring testing of the top 20 allergens in-house was made following a continued rise in requests, especially from GPs and paediatricians. Average turnaround times for common allergens was around three weeks.

After the introduction of the in-house tests, regular audits show that over 90% are ready in less than two weeks. Although the decision to bring testing in-house has in part contributed to increased workload, the Immulite 2000 provided the analytical support alongside a strategy of user education and test request form remodelling.

“When we modified the allergy service we also introduced an advice booklet and revised test request form for service users such as GPs and paediatricians. This was about education and also aimed to make clinicians refine their thoughts about the extent of tests requests,” states Zahra Khatami Consultant Biochemist at Queen’s Hospital.

“It is really important when you bring tests in-house that you provide as much support for your users as possible. To use services appropriately and understand what tests are available, booklets or seminars are good tools. This not only helps rationalise requests, but also enables the better management of patients and improved outcomes.”

Testing the top 20 allergens using Siemens 3g Allergy on the Immulite 2000

A contract with the Royal London ensures that a clinical immunologist oversees the services at Queen’s Hospital and the education booklet and revised test request forms were prepared in-line with all required guidelines. The Queen’s Hospital Biochemistry team meet with the dedicated immunologist once a quarter and have access by telephone and email at most other times.

Abigail Wynne-Jones, Immunoassay Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics states, “Queen’s Hospital in Romford has succeeded in bringing its common allergy testing in-house by working with its service users in order to gain buy-in and support for the change. With the ongoing challenges in healthcare, this is a great example of how maximising existing analytical resources can deliver benefits to service provision.”