West Yorkshire’s New State-of-the-Art Pathology Laboratory Opens

A pathology laboratory designed to serve patients across West Yorkshire (England) has recently opened. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s Centre for Laboratory Medicine marks a significant milestone in regional healthcare as it is set to house pathology services from Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust and Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

BAM commenced construction of the Centre for Laboratory Medicine in April 2022, which involved fitting 338 glass panels to create its windows, in addition to installing 1,357 individual rainscreen cladding panels on its façade. The new laboratory is a flagship project within the Leeds Teaching Hospital’s Building the Leeds Way capital investment and improvement program.

Most of the Trust’s pathology services have been delivered from outdated facilities in the Old Medical School at the Leeds General Infirmary, as well as from St James’s Hospital. However, the new building will bring many of these services together into one purpose-built facility and once vacated, the Old Medical School will be repurposed as part of a plan to use the surplus estate at the LGI to develop an innovation village, which is expected to deliver up to 4,000 new jobs, more than 500 new homes and almost £13 billion in net present value.

Consolidating these essential pathology services within this state-of-the-art facility will streamline access to routine and direct testing while fostering improved working environments for staff. It will also facilitate seamless continuity and transfer of patient care across the region.

Designed with flexibility and digital integration in mind, the facility is on track to achieving high-certified standards in staff well-being and sustainability. Its environmentally conscious features include full mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems to minimize power consumption and promote heat reuse.

Additionally, the laboratory will adopt a single, shared laboratory information management system to enable electronic test requests, tracking and results reporting to clinical services across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

The Centre for Laboratory Medicine is set to become fully operational in 2024 after the installation of equipment and technology.

In addition to this milestone, construction of a new Acute Hospital Laboratory at Leeds General Infirmary has been completed, providing essential pathology testing facilities to support clinical services as the primary pathology services transition to the new St. James’s facility.

Photos by: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust