After a whirlwind of planning, strategising and organising, IBMS Congress 2022 has successfully drawn to a close. Although the UK’s largest biomedical science exhibition could not take place last year due to the pandemic and had to be postponed from September 2021 to March 2022, it was well worth the wait. At least, Sonic Healthcare UK can certainly agree, after an eventful week at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham. They previously attended Congress as Health Services Laboratories (HSL) – a partnership between The Doctors Laboratory (TDL – their independent provider of clinical laboratory diagnostic services in the UK), Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (the Royal Free London) and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). However, this year, they exhibited as Sonic Healthcare UK, which incorporates the TDL Group of laboratories and services.
The first day of Congress was dedicated to talks, as delegates attended a number of lectures on Quality and Education within the service. One of those talks was given by Head of Laboratory Process Improvement, David Ricketts, who was invited to open the round of discussions regarding quality within the laboratory. He updated delegates on the ISO 15189 standards and how it will affect laboratories not just in the UK, but around the world!
The exhibition opened to delegates on Tuesday 15th March. Sonic staff were on hand at stand 302 in the main hall to discuss the business’ structure and services, the many locations their laboratories are situated in across the country, and training opportunities that are afforded to their staff, whilst also launching the publication of the latest Training and Education report. Delegates were particularly impressed with their ‘live at the Halo’ feature, which gave watchers a view into a few of their labs.
Sonic Healthcare UK also had the pleasure of sponsoring the Education and Training programme – themes that are important core values within the organisation. Their investment in this area is second to none, enabling their staff to reach their full potential. The formation of Sonic’s Education and Training Faculty ensures their workforce has excellent knowledge and skills and creates a platform for sharing their learning with partners in universities and beyond. The faculty has an expert group, providing leadership and links to regulatory bodies and institutions for higher education in London.
Throughout Congress, Head of Learning and Development, Wendy Leversuch, held talks on portfolio evidence, and alternative career paths in Biomedical Science. Head of Medical Training, Keith Gomez, and Consultant Biomedical Scientist, Hasit Patel, also spoke to platelet function testing with the British Society for Haematology guidelines, and the YouScreen trial as part of self-sampling for cervical screening, respectively.
Five members of staff showcased their scientific posters throughout the week to judges, delegates and visitors in Hall 4, and Sonic came away with a win as Wendy Leversuch’s entry to the Education and Training section of the poster competition, an investigation into the use of online training videos in support of laboratory bench training, won first prize!
Visitors to Sonic’s stand had the chance to enter their competition to win a Fitbit Luxe. They simply had to answer the question of how many samples the business had processed in 2021, finding the astounding answer of over 59 million somewhere on their display. Each day, a winner was drawn at 5pm and left with a brand-new smartwatch.
It’s fair to say that Sonic Healthcare UK had a successful time at IBMS Congress and are already planning for Congress 2023!
For information on any of the roles available at Sonic’s laboratories, visit www.sonicukjobs.com.