The East & South East London (ESEL) Pathology Partnership aimed to bring together three Trusts from two different STPs. All three Trusts were delivering almost all Pathology services in-house, except for HUH Cellular Pathology and Immunology, but recognised the need for collaboration and consolidation to address their specific challenges. These ranged from aging estates and equipment that required urgent investment, limited opportunity for further growth and improvement within the Trust and the lack of competitiveness in a market with increasing private participation.
Lifecycle was appointed to support the development of both and OBC and FBC that would address the needs of each partner Trust while still delivering on the service and costs improvements associated with regional consolidation of Pathology services. This was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic which reached its peak during the development of the FBC.
Approach
Lifecycle staff provided full support and development of both the OBC and FBC which included detailed analysis of workforce, equipment, finances, logistics, IT, infrastructure and investment requirements. Working closely with a broad spectrum of key stakeholders from all three, the team also facilitated the development of detailed commercial and partnership governance principles. Getting this done despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pressures on Trusts and contact restrictions required buy-in and collaboration from all three Trusts but also an in-depth understanding of the organisational and service needs by the consulting team.
Following successful approval of the OBC in December 2019, FBC development started in January 2020. At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the project was on hold for six weeks but, a through the collective efforts of the Lifecycle and Trust teams, the FBC was completed and approved only 4 weeks later than the original timeline set in September 2019.
