Hospital lab to open its doors

A RARE opportunity for members of the public to see behind the scenes at Warrington Hospital comes this weekend when the pathology laboratory stages an open day.
The laboratory will throw open its doors on Saturday (November 8) as part of National Pathology Week to give people a chance to learn more about the work that goes on in the laboratories.
The labs provide a range of vital services. They carry out around 1500 blood tests each and every day from patients in the hospital and people who have a blood test at their local GP – processing them and providing results within hours and diagnosing a range of conditions.
All the technical equipment used to produce results for diagnosing and treating disease both in the laboratory and on the wards will be on show. Visitors will also get to see the blood bank where all the blood needed for the hospital is stored.
The Microbiology Department and infection control team will also be demonstrating how they identify bacteria, including infection causing bugs, and showing visitors the latest techniques used to keep the hospital clean which have helped reduce infections by half in recent months.
Consultant pathologist Alison Davies said: “We hope that this will be a fascinating chance for people to see behind the scenes.
“Almost everyone who comes into hospital or needs a diagnosis when they go to their GP will need a test of some kind. This is a chance to see the work that goes on to turn that test into a diagnosis and how we do that.”
The tours will be running from 2pm till 5pm on Saturday and will take around 30 minutes in total. The pathology labs are located on the first floor of the Appleton Wing at the hospital. Advance booking isn’t required but children need to be over 11 to take the tour and under 16s need to be accompanied by an adult.