Changes to reference ranges won’t impact trending in EMIS, this is dependent on clinical SNOMED codes. Separate conversations are underway with primary care representatives to ensure any future changes with a potential impact to trends is understood and fully communicated.

Significant savings will be passed on to the NHS as a result of the pathology transformation. These will be realised as both financial benefits and via the release of more than 6,000 square metres of real estate for use by other NHS services. 

For most practices, the collection time will change by no more than 15 minutes. For a small group of practices (approx. 10 sites) the change will be more notable and those affected will be communicated with directly.

These changes have been assessed and developed based on the information Synnovis has about existing services/clinics being run within GP practices.

Collection times are posted the logistics page of the website and will be updated at each phase of the primary care transition.

Please note, these changes won’t come commence until 13 May 2024.

Cervical screening samples will continue to be sent the via the current cellular pathology provider which is not Synnovis.

All other samples (blood, urine, swabs, stools etc...) from a GP will be collected for delivery to the hub and can be grouped together for collection. The current process will not change; however your collection time may change by up to 15 minutes. Collection times are posted the logistics page of the website and will be updated at each phase of the primary care transition.

We are aware of some of the challenges faced by primary care, and this is being looked at in collaboration with various forums with the ICB, including involvement from the LMC.

We appreciate that you may have questions about this transition and would like to reassure you about the measures we’re putting in place to ensure a smooth transfer of services into the hub. These include:

• Robust and comprehensive readiness checklists to ensure we are ready ahead of go-live.
• Careful consideration when planning the phased approach across the six boroughs. For example, we’ve prioritised practices with the lowest transfer impact to go first, because existing technology is already aligned meaning that changes are limited. This gives other practices with a greater number of changes more time to plan.
• The staggered approach to transferring services enables us to maintain analytical expertise in hospital-based laboratories at the same time as having specialist resources within the hub, effectively doubling our capacity throughout the transition.
• A ‘Gold command’ team will be activated and hold daily checkpoints. It will be attended by representatives from different parts of the healthcare system, including borough leads and the ICB, so that issues can be identified, addressed, and responded to effectively and quickly.

Should you have any questions, please contact LetsTalk@synnovis.co.uk.

This piece of work is being considered as part of the catalogue harmonisation. A wider conversation is underway about what off catalogue tests could be needed based on clinical need, and what that process would look like, acknowledging the frustrations of paper-based processes.

The webinar is available online and will be shared via In SYNc newsletters.