TDL Manchester has expanded from an original team of seven to over 60 staff members today. This, combined with the ever growing volumes of samples, has meant a necessary move to new, much larger premises.
Operating over a sizeable area in the Northwest, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and parts of North Wales, the lab’s core business remains regional servicing for BMI and Ramsay hospitals (which it was originally set up for). It also services TDL’s GP customers in Manchester. The site has an auto lab for haematology and clinical chemistry, as well as labs for immunology and molecular and blood transfusion.
An increasing proportion of the work is made up of postal STI and serology samples; these currently amount to around 30,000 requests a month. Two courier runs to London each day transport other samples, mostly for microbiology testing.
The management team is made up of Systems Manager, Andy Leeson, and Regional Manager, Kelly Thwaite. They have very recently been joined by Diane Benson, the new Operational Site Lead.
On the move
“We’re really looking forward to a brand-new laboratory which will be two or three times bigger,” says Andy, “the building work starts in March. We’re well aware of the challenges of moving people and equipment on this scale – without losing business continuity. We’re very grateful for the many lessons that were learned from the Halo move.”
When the new lab is up and running, it will significantly increase TDL’s capacity. The plan is then to take some of the workload from the Halo, specifically, processing all TDL’s mailed samples in the future.
Andy is upbeat about the workforce talent in the Northwest. “We have a good supply of very well qualified people,” he says “and we’ve now started registration portfolios on-site which means we can help people develop their careers. During the last year, we’ve celebrated our first qualified BMS who is just finishing their multi-disciplinary training – and we’re delighted that two more people are about to start the registration process.”