Broomfield Hospital, part of the Mid and South Essex Trust, offers first-class services to patients in the East of the Country. Their Cellular and Histology departments located at the back of the hospital working simultaneously with the Gynaecology department to investigate and treat problems of the female urinary tract and reproductive organs.
The Challenge
The Cellular Pathology department at the hospital previously operated staining protocols with both a multi-protocol stainer and an additional carousel stainer to allow them to meet the demands of PAP staining. Their current carousel stainer had successfully operated for over 20 years for the hospital and was beginning to show signs of tiredness and age, underperforming and breaking down. Using an old machine requires maintenance in order to meet operating standards and to ensure the quality of results are not affected by the equipment’s performance. However, the cellular pathology team struggled to find a company that was able to service this stainer due to its age. With the stainer at full capacity, the department could not afford to lose the carousel stainer. Therefore, the lab manager was required to find a replacement carousel stainer that was cost-effective, of high-quality manufacturing that would provide similar longevity and also ensured that regular servicing was available for that specific machine.
Why a Carousel Stainer?
Carousel Stainers are an ideal alternative stainer to a multiprotocol stainer for pathology laboratories. Carousel stainers offer a smaller footprint, taking up less space in the laboratory than a multi-stainer whilst still providing an automative solution to sample staining that is simpler to use.
Carousel Stainers are also a more cost-effective stainer for labs, being lower cost to purchase and run in comparison to the multiprotocol stainer. For cellular pathologists, the carousel stainer is the perfect solution to meet additional staining demands for a small number of slides especially in Papanicolaou (PAP) staining where the stainer is only running one protocol. The Slee MSM Carousel Stainer was the chosen stainer by the laboratory manager for its quality performance and precision engineering. In addition to the supporting services, we were able to provide the laboratory, making the manager’s decision seamless and assertive, being the only carousel stainer with a service agreement available in the market.
“Carousel stainers offer a smaller footprint, taking up less space in the laboratory than a multi stainer whilst still providing an automative solution to sample staining that is simpler to use.”
MSM Carousel Stainer
The MSM Carousel Stainer from German-engineers Slee medical GmbH provides a simple user interface combined with sophisticated technology, designed to meet the requirements for routine staining in histology and cytology laboratories.
MSM Carousel Slide Stainer offers 24 incubation stations containing up to 400 ml. The intuitive control panel on the front provides system status monitoring and flex-programming options allowing different staining protocols whilst using the same reagents. Understanding the importance of staining has on patient diagnosis results, Slee have integrated an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), with built-in batteries ensuring the highest process reliability, sample protection, and prevention of downtime due to power loss.
The safety of users is at the heart of Slee’s values, ensuring all users of their equipment are protected from any risks to their health and well-being.Therefore, Slee have designed the MSM with reliable safety features that protect the users from reagent vapours, including an extraction system with carbon filters and a Perspex fume hood that creates a barrier between the user and the reagent fumes and improving workplace safety.
That Little Bit Extra
Our technical engineers ensure that every installation is as seamless as possible, ensuring there is minimum disruption to the laboratory team and workflow. We endeavour to be quick and efficient whilst completing tasks meticulously during the installation. At the time of the installation of the new MSM Carousel Stainer, the old carousel stainer was still in place. Laboratory equipment, especially stainers, can be heavy and difficult to move for laboratory staff, therefore our team of engineers used the equipment used to transport the MSM, to lift and move the old stainer out of the laboratory to the desired new location, saving the cellular pathology team the hassle and cost of moving it.
At Solmedia, we understand what the added stress of arranging and removing pre-existing equipment can cause prior to the installation of your new equipment. Therefore, we offer a removal and recycle service, which means we will take away your existing equipment before or during the installation and recycle it for you.
“After the installation of any SLEE Equipment, from our histology equipment range, we offer a premium equipment servicing and maintenance package that
is carried out by our in-house team of engineers. This service ensures all of the equipment we supply continuously performs to the highest standards, thus, allowing our customers to optimise output whilst preventing the loss of valuable time caused by equipment issues.”
Equipment Servicing
It is important to us as an organisation that our customers are happy with the standards of our equipment and feel confident when using them. After the installation of any Slee Equipment from our histology equipment range, we offer a premium equipment servicing and maintenance package that is carried out by our team of in-house field service engineers. This service ensures all of the equipment we supply continuously performs to the highest standards, thus, allowing our customers to optimise output whilst preventing the loss of valuable time caused by equipment issues.
The in-house service is unique to us and promises a fast service, including parts, reliable communication and remote technical support when required. This was pivotal to the cellular pathology department, having experienced the struggles of trying to find a company that would service the previous stainer, being able to source one supplier that provides everything from equipment to servicing to product training was the best possible solution.
Additional Extras
The MSM Carousel was originally ordered without the additional safety features. Following the installation and the cellular pathology team putting the new stainer to use for PAP protocols, the lab manager agreed that the additional safety features were necessary when operating the stainer, resulting in ordering the fume hood and extractor fan after the installation. This was no problem for us as we have strong, reliable relationships with our suppliers that enable us to be flexible and get additional parts for equipment to our customers quickly so operations can be resumed quickly and downtime is reduced. In addition to this, Slee are pioneers in histology equipment and are continually looking for ways to improve and develop their equipment, adapting functionality to meet the industry changes especially as processes move further towards digital pathology.
Since the installation of the MSM Carousel Stainers at the hospital, there has been a system upgrade from Slee’s engineers. To ensure that current owners of the Slee carousel stainers were also up to date with this upgrade, our team of engineers visited the hospital to carry out a mechanical upgrade and service, successfully completing the upgrade efficiently, with no downtime and within the afternoon.