Sysmex Connect – May 2021
The Grange University Hospital Install The Grange University Hospital is a new hospital located in Gwent, South Wales. Originally due to open in Spring of 2021, the hospital opened ahead of schedule in November 2020 to assist with the demands of the second wave of COVID-19 and other winter season health pressures. Sysmex UK manage a Primary Managed Service Contract for ABUHB (Aneurin Bevan University Health Board), which includes the provision of haematology and haemostasis services, blood transfusion, allergy testing and the provision of HbA1C at The Grange University Hospital.
Having no experience with using SmartSheet ® before this installation both Stacey and Tim commented on the ease of use of the tool and how clear and concise the information provided via the project management tool was.
Installation for these services at The Grange University Hospital were planned for the beginning of 2021, ahead of the scheduled opening of the new hospital. However, in order to meet the demands of additional pressures on healthcare services caused by the second wave of COVID-19, in July 2020 Sysmex UK were asked to bring the installation forward. This would mean the entire installation and go-live would have to be completed in just over 3 months.
“We [Sysmex and ABUHB] do work well together. I think we both compliment each other. Our Sysmex MSC is the benchmark that I measure the other ones. As it stands, no one comes close to you, so it is an absolute credit to everyone involved.” – Tim Walbyoff, Pathology Procurement and Project Officer ABUHB.
To reflect on the installation and go-live process, we spoke with Stacey Wetherell, the Haematology Operational Manager ABUHB and Tim Walbyoff, the Pathology Procurement and Project Officer ABUHB, to take us through this very unique experience.
Could you comment on the channels of communication that were used throughout the process and how that helped with the ease of sharing information between everyone who was involved in this project?
Collectively, we installed and went live at The Grange Hospital in just over 3 months, that is quite the turnaround! Obviously, we were working in unprecedented times with the COVID-19 pandemic, can you start by describing the initial experience and move to The Grange Hospital?
Stacey: Milly Mitchell, the Project Manager was instrumental throughout the whole process. Everyone who was involved in the project knew exactly what was happening and their responsibilities in the project. We were all given training on how to use SmartSheet® which was great. It is such an easy tool to navigate around. Through SmartSheet® we were able to track the major milestones that needed to be hit and I think most of those milestones were hit ahead of schedule. The whole project was managed so well.
Stacey: We were really pleased with how the whole process went. The installation process and then the go-live was seamless. The support we received from the Sysmex engineers responsible for the install was first class. We were working ahead of schedule and everything was completed in a timely manner, the commitment shown by the engineers was fantastic. We really couldn’t have done it without them onsite day and night. The training plan that was created by Training Specialist Natalie Bowen was very useful. We received bespoke training support which was enhanced with the training webinars that were provided by Sysmex Training Academy. I was, and still am, very happy and pleased with the whole process.
Tim: All communication was done virtually, there were no face-to-face meetings, no site visits during the pandemic because of the restrictions in place. By using SmartSheet® we were able to share photos, showing access points within the new laboratory and all decisions made about the layout of the new lab were done via SmartSheet® too. It was a very, very good tool to use.
Tim: From my point of view, we have a great relationship with Sysmex, it’s definitely a true partnership that we have. There is certainly a heightened level of trust there, it’s not your usual pigeonholed customer-supplier relationship. I think Sysmex go above and beyond the normal contractual expectations and that has been proven with this move to our new hospital; things would have been tricky anyway, but the relationship we have built with Sysmex over the years helped out in this installation process. The installation at The Grange Hospital was overseen by Milly Mitchell, Project Manager at Sysmex UK. The installation process and all communication relating to the installation was distributed on a project management tool called SmartSheet® which is used universally throughout the Project Management Team at Sysmex UK.
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