Building The Leeds Way Programme
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
Introduction:
The Lifecycle team played a pivotal role in collaborating with the Building the Leeds Way (BtLW) Programme to design the Centre for Laboratory Medicine (CfLM) at the St James campus of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. The engagement commenced during early West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) network reviews, culminating in the decision to establish a centre of excellence at the St James site. The Laboratory includes a Central Specimen Reception, Automated Core Laboratories covering Blood Sciences and Microbiology, as well as Specialist Laboratory Medicine and Transplant Immunology departments.
Pre-Feasibility Studies and Decision Making:
Early engagement involved conducting pre-feasibility studies to explore various options for pathology services at the Leeds General Infirmary and St James sites. These studies were critical in navigating through different scenarios for laboratory configurations impacted by departmental consolidation and demand growth. Subsequently, the decision to establish the CfLM laboratory prompted a process-based design approach driven by Lifecycle. Continuous clinical and operational reviews, along with stakeholder engagement and workshops, were integral in achieving the optimised laboratory requirements within the designated budget.
Design and Capacity Optimisation:
The laboratory design anticipated a significant increase in Blood Science and Microbiology volumes at more than 20% and 100% respectively, which were accommodated within the design whilst achieving more than a 5% reduction in operational spaces through optimisation and further reductions in support and circulation spaces by removing wastage and non-functional space. To accomplish this, Lifecycle conducted multiple stakeholder engagement sessions, employing process-based design, workforce analysis, and technical capacity reviews at the single analyser level. This was all completed from pre-feasibility to concept design, followed by further collaboration from Lifecycle with the LTHT appointed Architects and the Build Contractors through to completion of the laboratory.
Key focus areas of the engagement included:
- Design Factors:
- Flexibility and adaptability to accommodate evolving pathology needs.
- Optimal configuration of departmental inter-relationships and area adjacencies to foster efficiency.
- Integration of ergonomic principles for a safe and comfortable working environment.
- Capacity:
- Detailed capacity reviews based on technology types across all disciplines in the laboratory reviewing demand from a sample, profile and test perspective.
- Creating a process-driven layout aligned with equipment and resource capacity to optimise laboratory efficiency.
- Co-location of similar technologies and consolidation of testing to specialist platforms to maximise utilisation.
- Functionality:
- Optimal use of laboratory and administrative space through co-location and alignment of technology and cross-disciplinary areas, with a strong focus on sample pathways and departmental adjacencies.
- Designing shared spaces for clinical, managerial, secretarial and administrative colleagues to maximise the utilisation of space.
Stakeholder Engagement:
To ensure the build design was agreed across all stakeholders enabling completion of the works within time and budget, it was imperative for Lifecycle to facilitate consistent stakeholder engagement workshops throughout the design process, involving clinical, managerial and operational colleagues from all laboratory disciplines and central support functions. This inclusive approach ensured that all concerns were addressed, and inputs from department-specific leads were incorporated into the new build.
Conclusion:
Through the adoption of a process-driven approach by Lifecycle and fostering robust clinical and operational engagement, the design of the Centre for Laboratory Medicine at the St James campus exemplifies laboratory building design, ultimately serving the evolving needs of the pathology environment whilst prioritising efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction.
Furthermore, LTHT states that “The Centre for Laboratory Medicine (CfLM) is our brand new, state-of-the-art pathology facility at St James’s University Hospital. Completion of construction was officially marked at a ceremony in September 2023 attended by Minister of State for Health and Secondary”
“Lifecycle have been fundamental to the process to deliver our new, purpose build pathology facility, ‘The Centre for Laboratory Medicine’ at St James University Hospital, Leeds. Their professional and collaborative approach has bought knowledge, skills and control to a very complex change project ensuring the confidence of all key stakeholders.”