Kettering General Hospital
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides quality care to the population of North Northamptonshire. Since joining the CellNass service in 2017 they have taken advantage of the convenient off-site archiving, speedy recalls and efficient tracking using out CellTrak Software. We spoke to Laura Saberton, Senior Biomedical Scientist, to find out more about their experience.
What first inspired you to use CellNass?
We needed a solution to the reduced archiving capacity we had for blocks and slides in this hospital as we were struggling for space. We heard about CellNass and the fact that it would be off-site and thought that it would be the best solution for us.
Have you been involved in any uplifts of materials?
I was on-site when the first uplift happened and that was very smooth and easy for us here in the lab.
What are your thoughts on our CellTrak software?
I think it’s fantastic. Cornelia came over and did a training session with me and another senior within the department. She was amazing, she explained everything really well. She gave us a folder with step by step guides, basically SOPs of how to use the system, which we found fantastic and we still use now. Ever since the training, we have been using CellTrak and we find it easy to track everything that’s happened in the past and see who’s done what.
We’ve found it a good way to communicate between team members within the department because when you log on you can see who has been active and who has ordered what. It stops us ordering blocks and slides more than once and prevents any confusion. Ever since we’ve been using the tracking system, we find that recalls happen very quickly, we order blocks and slides one day and get them delivered the next morning. Cornelia really was brilliant – she was so helpful. She did the training with us and after she’s always been there if we need her, we know we can email or call her anytime.
Are there any features you feel are missing from CellNass or CellTrak?
I can’t think of anything, but I do feel I could give feedback if I thought of it and you would take it on board.
What would you say to anybody else considering joining CellNass?
As limited space was the key thing for us, I’d say that I know off-site archiving can make hospitals feel a bit anxious if you’re used to having all material on-site and within walking distance, but the speed of the service makes this nothing to worry about. It’s very quick so you don’t need to be concerned about the time frame.
I just wish we’d started using CellTrak earlier as you can see everything on there. My first question was how much the software would cost, as I’m sure you can imagine, but it’s free and comes with excellent training from Cornelia. I’ve found it brilliant and really easy to use. We plan to carry on using CellNass for the foreseeable future – it’s definitely worked for us.