President of the Royal College of Pathologists visits #TeamWestHerts
Posted: 15 October 2020
#TeamWestHerts were delighted when Professor Jo Martin, president of
the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath), paid a visit to the microbiology
department yesterday (Wednesday 14 October) at Watford General Hospital to hear
about all our recent microbiology developments.
In particular, Prof. Martin heard about the rapid diagnostic testing for
COVID-19 in response to the pandemic. She was very impressed with how the
department has been able to implement local PCR testing (antibody tests for
COVID-19) through identifying the required space and facilities, obtaining new
analysers, setting up the right IT interface, recruiting the number of staff
needed to provide a 24/7 service and ramping up COVID-19
testing capacity to about 250 samples per day.
Prof. Martin praised the department, saying that it has always had a fantastic
reputation nationally and this was yet another example of how well the team has
risen to COVID-19 challenges.
She said “It was a delight to meet the team and to see what stunning work they
are doing. You seem such a happy department with great leadership.”
Dr Prema Singh, clinical lead for microbiology , added: “We are immensely proud
to receive such positive feedback from the president as the team has worked
incredibly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic in putting patient care at the
centre of everything that we do.”
Contact information
- For more information, please contact the communications team on: email: westherts.communications@nhs.net, For out of hours media enquiries please call the Watford General Hospital switchboard on 01923 244366 and ask for the on call communications manager.
- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust serves people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three hospitals; Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead. The trust sees around 600,000 patients a year and is one of the largest employers locally, with around 5,000 staff and volunteers.
- For more information about our hospitals, visit www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk.. You can also join our followers on Twitter (twitter.com/westhertsNHS) and find us on Facebook (facebook.com/westhertsNHS).
