BLOOD-taking services at St Cross Hospital continue to improve with the addition of a time-saving ‘vein viewer’ – donated by charity group the Friends of St Cross.
The Friends Blood Taking Unit – itself financed by the charity’s year-long appeal – has taken delivery of the new device, the first of its kind in the Coventry and Warwickshire Pathology Network.
It helps blood-takers – phlebotomists – detect difficult to locate veins in patients who have small blood vessels by using infra-red light to illuminate the blood.
This means phlebotomists can take samples more quickly, and patients with small veins no longer need to be referred to Coventry’s hospital to have blood taken.
The teamwork which created the Friends Blood Taking Unit received high praise at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust’s recent annual meeting, held in St Cross’ outpatients department.
Neil Anderson, Director of Pathology Services, gave a presentation which made special mention of the support from the Friends of St Cross, the leadership of St Cross Group Manager Juliet Starkey, and the vision of Senior Phlebotomist Michelle Giles in establishing the new unit.
He added the Trust was delivering a better service and environment for patients, with more motivated staff.
The Blood Taking Unit team is now looking to introduce further improvements including late night opening, a Saturday morning outpatient service, a wards phlebotomy service on a Sunday, dedicated appointments for children and an appointments system for patients which aims to achieve 15 mins waiting times for all patients.
