I'm Caroline - Quality Manager for Pathology.
This video is meant to give you an insight into what goes on behind closed doors in the lab.
The Quality Manager's job is to make sure all systems, procedures and the most importantly the people
work together to make sure the right test
gets to the right patient in a timely manner.
Most of the time Pathology tests are needed to give the patient their diagnosis.
They're also needed to monitor treatment and decide what treatment is appropriate.
Here in Kettering we do
about 8.1 million tests a year and we
have the equivalent of 133 full-time
staff who are involved in testing.
This is an average of about 60,000 tests per employee per year.
And costs the Trust about 12 million pounds.
So let's go behind closed doors and find out what goes on.
I'll put my coat on.
Let's start with Specimen
Reception. This is where our specimens
are received including via our pod
system.
This is the pod system where
specimens from all over hospital
come to us in an air tube system
similar to ones that they use in
supermarkets.
But we don't just get
specimens from within the hospital, we are sent them from GP surgeries, midwives
and other healthcare professionals in the
wider community.
We don't just get blood tests either, we get all sorts of things from skin scrapings
to nail clippings and all kinds of bodily fluids to be analysed.
And it's really important
we get the right information on the
form and the specimen so that we know that
that specimen has come from the right patient.
Next we'll go to Blood Transfusion.
This is  Blood Transfusion.
This is where blood samples from
patients are checked for their group and their
antibody screens
so that we can match them donated blood
And make sure it's suitable for them if they need it in an operation.
We don't just supply whole blood, but other blood products as well.
In Haematology, scientists look at the
number, structure and function of blood cells
to investigate and monitor blood
disorders and blood clotting function.
Automated equipment and different
staining techniques are used to identify
count and size the various types of
blood cells
Next we're visiting Immunology.
This is Martin he's the Lead
Biomedical Scientist for Immunology.
So Martin. Tell us what goes on in the Immunology department.
Well, the samples that we receive in immunology are blood samples mainly.
We also have some urine samples for some of the tests that we do.
and we are looking for antibodies
in the majority of tests that we do. 
We are looking for indicators of disease
- markers of disease. We are also
measuring things to monitor treatment.
Allergy is also one of the areas that we
deal a lot in as you would imagine when
you think about immunology. So we do the allergy testing to identify - or help identify -
things that people may be
reacting to.
Time to go downstairs to Cellular Pathology.
First Histology, this is the study of tissues.
In Histology tissue samples are dissected, processed and thin slices are cut and
stained so that they can be examined
under the microscope
for the diagnosis of disease.
Next onto Cytology - which is
the study of cells.
In Cytology we look at specimens of cells.
Lots of work is from the cytology cervical screening programme.
This is a machine that takes the cells from a woman's cervix
and makes them into a thin layer  preparation
which is stained and looked at under the microscope for abnormalities
Medical Microbiology is the study of
bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites
that can inhabit the body and may cause
disease.
Microorganisms are cultured and tested to identify them.
Additional tests are performed on bacteria to establish
their sensitivity to antibiotics.
So the culture of urine is on this Brilliance agar
which changes colour depending on 
the organism which is present in that urine.
Based on this culture we can perform
sensitivities against those organisms.
Which looks like this.
So what we do is we inoculate this
plate with an organism from that previous plate.
And by these antibiotic
discs, we can determine susceptibilities against
a range of different antibiotics.
And finally a visit to Biochemistry.
This is Claudia - she's a Clinical Scientist who works in our biochemistry lab.
Tell us what happens in biochemistry.
Well in biochemistry we mainly test
blood samples.
But we also test urine and sometimes other fluids in the body.
So this is used for - in some cases - diagnosis.
For example in the diagnosis of diabetes. We test the amount of sugar in a blood sample.
And then we also do some
screening here, our particular specialty
here at Kettering is the Down's syndrome
screening for pregnant women
in this area and other areas around the country
Thank you very much for watching this
video. I hope you found it interesting
and learned a bit more about what goes on in Pathology.
