the association for clinical biochemistry •issue 517 ...€¦ · the association for clinical...

ACBNewsACBNewsThe Association for Clinical Biochemistry • Issue 517 • 20th May 2006

Council News

Payment for

the Work

We Do: A

Personal View

Time to Apply

for an ACB

Scholarship

Council News

Payment for

the Work

We Do: A

Personal View

Time to Apply

for an ACB

Scholarship

May 2006 • ACB News Issue 517 • 3

About ACB News

The monthly magazine

for Clinical Science

The Editor is responsible for the finalcontent. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the ACB. EditorDr Jonathan BergDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryCity HospitalDudley RoadBirmingham B18 7QHTel: 07973-379050/0121-507-5353Fax: 0121-765-4224Email: [email protected]

Associate EditorsMiss Sophie BarnesDepartment of Chemical PathologySt Thomas’ HospitalLondon SE1 7EHEmail: [email protected]

Mrs Louise TilbrookDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryBroomfield HospitalChelmsfordEssex CM1 5ETEmail: [email protected]

Mr Ian HanningDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryHull Royal InfirmaryAnlaby RoadHull HU3 2JZEmail: [email protected]

Situations Vacant AdvertisingPlease contact the ACB Office:Tel: 0207-403-8001 Fax: 0207-403-8006Email: [email protected]

Display Advertising & InsertsPRC AssociatesThe Annexe, Fitznells ManorChessington RoadEwell VillageSurrey KT17 1TFTel: 0208-786-7376 Fax: 0208-786-7262Email: [email protected]

ACB Administrative OfficeAssociation for Clinical Biochemistry130-132 Tooley StreetLondon SE1 2TUTel: 0207-403-8001 Fax: 0207-403-8006Email: [email protected]

ACB ChairmanMiss Janet SmithDepartment of Clinical BiochemistryUniversity Hospital Birmingham NHS TrustBirmingham B29 6JDTel: 0121-627-8449 Fax: 0121-414-0078Email: [email protected]

ACB Home Pagehttp://www.ACB.org.uk

Printed by Piggott Black Bear, CambridgeISSN 1461 0337© Association for Clinical Biochemistry 2006

ACBNewsNumber 517 • May 2006

General News 4

Disposable Laboratory Tips 9

MRCPath Short Questions 10

Council Matters 14

Scientific Committee 18

A Personal View 20

Situations Vacant 22

Front cover: Compassion by John Bridgeman, 1968 is now to be found in the foyer of The BirminghamTreatment Centre at City Hospital. Photograph by Karen Harris

The Association for ClinicalBiochemistry National MeetingManchester International Conference Centre23rd – 26th April 2007

ocusbeyond the laboratoryƒ

4 • ACB News Issue 517 • May 2006

General News General News General News General News General News

Last Month’s Solution

This Month’s Sudoku

ACB Southern Region

Summer Meeting

Metabolic Bone Disease

University of Westminster

Harrow Campus, Middlesex

Thursday 13th July 2006

09.30-10.15 Coffee and Registration10.15-10.20 Welcome10.20-11.00 Biochemical diagnosis and new

treatments for Paget’s disease Dr Rama Chandra, King’s College Hospital, London

11.00-11.40 Ways of routinely using biochemicalbone markers Dr Caje Moniz, King’s College Hospital, London

11.40-12.20 DEXA scanning and its interpretation Dr Clare Batten, Northwick Park Hospital,Middlesex

12.20-13.00 Modulation of immunity tomycobacterial infection by Vitamin D Dr Adrian Martineau, Imperial College, London

13.00-14.00 Lunch14.15-14.55 New assays for Vitamin D analysis

including LC Tandem MS Dr Sandra Rainbow, Northwick Park Hospital,Middlesex

14.55-15.35 Recombinant PTH and its use in thetreatment of osteoporosis Prof Jonathan Reeve, Addenbrookes Hospital,Cambridge

15.35-16.15 Bone health in women with breastcancer Dr Ann Crawshaw, St Thomas’ Hospital, London

Cost of meeting: ACB members £15.00 (Grade Atrainees/temporarily retired members/retired membersare required to submit a £15 deposit which will bereturned at the meeting) £25 for non-members.

Closing date for registration is 23rd June 2006. Pleaseapply early as places are limited.

Venue is 20 mins on the underground train fromCentral London to Northwick Park underground stationon the Metropolitan Line, close to Northwick ParkHospital, Harrow.

For further information please contact: Dr YetundeBaoku, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, NorthwickPark Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ. Email: [email protected]: www.acbsouth.org.uk ■

Laboratory Advertising in

ACB News

ACB News welcomes advertising from hospital laboratories that wish to inform readers of services that they can provide.

If you are interested in this then please contact Sue Ojakowa at PRC Associates. Email: [email protected] or Tel: 0208-786-7376. ■



TPMT Assay Thiopurine s-methyltransferase (TPMT) is used toassess patients prior and during therapy with drugssuch as Azathioprine. We offer:

● Two-day turn round target

● DNA confirmation of deficient patients at no additional cost

● Referrals from the UK and the rest of the world

● Cost: £27 in a CPA accredited laboratory

www.cityassays.org.uk

For further information contact:[email protected] or [email protected]

Download the informationleaflet and access additionaldetails from our website:www.cityassays.org.uk

Address for samples: Clinical Biochemistry, City Hospital, Dudley Road,Birmingham B18 7QH, UK

Back to Basics for

Unimaginative ACB News

Editor

Scott Blackwell comments: “On 20th April’s front cover of the ACB News, you posethe question of who is getting paid for eGFR? Except that itreads “whose getting paid...”! Whose? Do I correctlyassume that should be “who’s”? Now I certainly don’texpect imaginative and skilful use of language in such apublication, but surely it is not unreasonable to expect basiccompetency?

A minor point you may think, but one despairs in themodern world today, surrounded by falling standards and awidespread lack of basic education. It would be nice to seebasic standards of education being upheld in a professionalpublication.”

The Editor can only apologise for this dreadful mistake.The April issue was a lot of work with very tight dead-lines. There was the added complication of an editorialattempt on the Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle ride… successfully completed in nine days with the liberaluse of pain killers in the final stages! ■

Focus 2007

Manchester 23rd-26th April 2007

Please note down the date ofnext year’s Focusmeeting now in yourdiary. The meetingis being heldtowards the end of April nextyear and will be at theManchesterInternationalConference Centre. The scientific programme and otheraspects of the meeting are currently being worked on. If you would like tomake suggestions on any aspect of next year’s meeting then please contact the organising committee Chairman, Terry Dyer by email [email protected] ■



This month the front cover features the work of art “Compassion”, (John Bridgeman, 1968), which is to be found in the foyer of the newly-built Birmingham Treatment Centre at City Hospital in Birmingham.The photo was taken by Karen Harris, an Assistant Technical Officer in theCity Hospital Pathology Department. In her spare time Karen is currentlystudying a part-time course in photography. ■

Compassion Statue . . .

Tips Disposable Laboratory Tips Disposable Laboratory Tips


MRCPath Short Questions MRCPath Short Questions MRCPath Short


Deacon’s ChallengeNo. 62 AnswerAs Duty Biochemist you encounter a sample with an apparent plasma sodiumconcentration of 152 mmol/L. You discover that the blood was taken in error into an‘anticoagulation’ Vacutainer tube containing 0.5 mL trisodium citrate solution (citrateconcentration 0.105 mol/L). The total volume of anticoagulated blood in the tube is4.5 mL. Assuming that the result is analytically correct, what is the true plasmasodium concentration?

MRCPath, November 2005

When any solution is diluted the total amount of a substance in the solution (derivedfrom the solution) is the same both before and after dilution.

Since the total amount of a substance in a solution is the product of concentration andvolume, we can write:

Final concentration x Final volume = Initial concentration x Initial volume

Which can be rearranged to calculate any component. It is essential, however, that thesame concentration and volume units are used throughout.

In this problem the sodium present in blood is diluted with anticoagulant and thesodium present in anticoagulant is diluted with blood. Therefore, a proportion of thesodium in the anticoagulated blood is derived from each component of the mixture.

By rearranging the above equation it is possible to calculate the Na concentration inanticoagulated blood which was derived from the anticoagulant alone:

Na from anticoagulant = Na concentration in anticoagulant x Anticoagulant volumeVolume of anticoagulated blood

The anticoagulant contained 0.105 mol/L of trisodium citrate. Therefore thisconcentration must be multiplied by 3 (to allow for each molecule containing 3sodiums) and by 1000 (to convert from mol/L to mmol/L), giving 0.105 x 3 x1000 = 315 mmol/L. Therefore, 0.5mL of anticoagulant (containing 315 mmol/L of

Questions MRCPath Short Questions MRCPath Short Questions


Na) is diluted to 4.5 mL with blood, so that the Na concentration in theanticoagulated blood which is derived from anticoagulant is:

315 x 0.5 = 35 mmol/L4.5

The total Na concentration in anticoagulated blood is the sum of the Naconcentrations derived from both blood and anticoagulant:

Total Na = Na from blood + Na from anticoagulant

So the concentration of Na derived from blood is simply the difference between theNa in anticoagulated blood (152 mmol/L) and the component derived fromanticoagulant (35 mmol/L):

Na in anticoagulated blood derived from blood = 152 - 35 = 117 mmol/L

Since this is the concentration obtained when 4.0 mL of blood is diluted to 4.5 mLwith anticoagulant, then the Na concentration in undiluted blood is:

117 x 4.5 = 132 mmol/L (3 sig figs)4.0

Question 63A plasma sample containing 70 g/L protein gives a result of 140 mmol/L for sodiumwhen measured both by flame photometry and a direct-reading ion-selective electrode.By how much would you expect the two results to differ if the sample had had a proteincontent of only 50 g/L? Indicate any assumptions you made when arriving at youranswer.

MRCPath, November 2005

CLINICAL CHEMISTRY � IMMUNOCHEMISTRY � BLOOD GROUPING � AUTOMATION � MICROSCOPY � E

DDOO YYOOUU IINNTTEERRRRUUPPTT TTHHEE FFLLOOWW AANNDD SSLLOOWW TTHHEE RROOUUTTIINNEE ??

DDOO TTHHEEYY JJOOIINN TTHHEE QQUUEEUUEE AANNDD WWAAIITT TTHHEEIIRR TTUURRNN ??

WWHHYY CCOOMMPPRROOMMIISSEE ??

TTHHEE WWAAIITTIINNGG IISS AALLMMOOSSTT OOVVEERR..

Oncology

Thyroid

Anaemia

Cardiac

HCG Fertility

ENDOSCOPY � DIGITAL IMAGING � PATIENT SAFETY

URGENT TESTS REQUIRED

Council Matters Council Matters Council Matters Council Matters


Government Officer

As agreed at the last Council meeting, a Government Officer hasbeen appointed by the ACB. Janet Smith was delighted tointroduce Dr Joe O’Meara to Council. Joe will be familiar to manyACB Members. He was a Clinical Biochemist, working at EastBirmingham (now Heartlands) Hospital until the early 1990s andhe was also ACB News editor. Joe addressed Council at thismeeting and gave a brief overview of the tasks he will beundertaking in the forthcoming months. He will becommunicating with ACB Members directly, through ACB Newsand via the ACB website. Further information can be obtainedfrom these sources.

Regional StructuresACB Executive asked the National Members, Dr CeridwenCoulson, Dr Ian Godber and Dr Brian Senior, to seek views on theeffectiveness of the Association, particularly with regard to thestructure and functioning of the regional groupings and also theway in which the Association interacts with the NHS in achanging environment.

ACB Council March 2006By Steve Goodall, Assistant Secretary

Joe O’Meara introduced himself and his role in theAssociation to Council



In particular, the following questions were posed:

• Is the current Regional structure appropriate?• Are communication lines appropriate?• Are further lines of communication needed below Regional level?• Is representation per Region appropriate?• Should the level of representation reflect numbers of Members in the

‘constituency’?• Should ‘constituencies’ be smaller – e.g. local networks, SHA level?• Are there better ways to communicate with the membership and

the NHS structure?• What roles should the Regions be playing?

The National Members posed these questions via Regional Committees. Manycomments and views were received. In general:

• There is reluctance to consider making boundaries match local NHSstructures as these are relatively transient and under constant review.

• Concern was expressed about the problem of finding individuals who wereprepared to take on Regional roles.

• There is a need to consider the governance arrangements since it is felt that,under current Council arrangements, Regional Representatives do not have anopportunity to significantly influence the policy and strategy of theAssociation.

• The Association should consider the establishment of a ‘board’ structurewhich could conduct the business of the Association, and free Members fromtime-consuming tasks to contribute to the Association in a more scientific,clinical or advisory role.

• Regions feel their activities e.g. scientific meetings and audit are well attendedand are of high benefit to Members within and outwith each Region.

These views were discussed further at Council and more ideas were forthcoming:

• Regional Officers could write job descriptions so potential future candidateswould understand the nature of the role.

• IT (e-mail) could be used more to send information directly to Membersthereby bypassing, but not excluding, the slower Regional route.

• Regions should encourage and allow junior Members to participate more inRegional activities.

Now is your chance to influence the debate. Send your views to ACB News or viayour Regional Committees and Representatives.

Regional ReportsFurther to the discussions above, the Regional Reports that are tabled at Councilreveal extensive activity in the Regions, particularly successful scientific and auditmeetings. The range of topics is diverse. Synacthen testing (Northern Ireland,Wales), analysis of CSF bilirubin (Republic of Ireland), malignancy (Scotland)and toxicology (Trent, Northern and Yorkshire) are a few examples. Even moreencouraging is the very high quality of scientific work and presentations by junior



Members in those Regions where prizes are awarded to trainees. More details areincluded in the Regional articles in the ACB Annual Report.

Virtually every Region expressed concern about inequalities / anomalies of AfCbanding results - many thanks to FCS Executive and Representatives who arehelping with appeals. There were several nominations from Regions for AssociationAwards. These were debated by Council elsewhere in the meeting and successfulrecipients will be proposed at the Association AGM (to be held at Focus 2006 -6pm, Monday 15th May 2006, in the Clarence Suite, Brighton Hilton MetropoleHotel).

Success!It was with extreme pleasure that Janet Smith was able to announce that, on the27th March, the ACB received notification from the Science Council that theAssociation can go forward as a licensed body for Chartered Scientist (CSci) status.A huge amount of work has been put in by many ACB Members to prepare thegroundwork, the documentation and the submissions for this. Janet thanked, inparticular, Dr Gwyn McCreanor and Dr Graham Groom. Further work will start inearnest after the AGM.

Pathology ReviewEven more hard work has been carried out by Association Members, led by Dr IanWatson, in putting together a response to the Lord Carter of Coles Review panel.The response can be viewed on the ACB website.

Reports from Representatives of Other BodiesAt every meeting Council receives reports from the Royal College of Pathologists(RCPath - via Dr Trevor Gray) and the Association of Clinical Scientists (ACS -currently via Miss Janet Smith).

Dr Gray keeps Council up-to-date on RCPath matters that are very close to theheart of ACB Members. Recent College Council Meetings have discussed, inter alia:

• Doctors in Society: Medical Professionalism in a changing world, seehttp://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/books/ docinsoc/docinsoc.pdfand Modernising Medical Careers, see http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/pages/specialities/specialityframeworkboth of which sites will be of particular interest to the ACB Medical Members.

• Clinical Scientists in Pathology: Bridging the Training Gap• Conveying abnormal results to GPs out-of-hours• Guidelines on the release of specimens and data to the police and other law

enforcement agencies (a very important piece of work for all who work in allpathology disciplines)

• RCPath examinations

Focus 2006Finally, does Council represent you and your views? Do you know the ACB CouncilMembers? Would you like to meet and talk with them? Why not come to the ACBstand at Focus 2006 in Brighton where, if they are not immediately available, youcan make contact with them via the ACB Office staff on the stand. ■

Scientific Committee Scientific Committee Scientific Committee


The time of year has come round for the Scientific Committee to invite applicationsfrom ACB members for Scientific Scholarships (see advertisement in this newletter).The award, of up to £5000, is intended to partially or completely fund a research

project. Those considering applying might like to note that since this award is only open toACB members this makes the likelihood of success greater than other sources of funding.

The application must address a scientific question relevant to clinical biochemistry. Thestudy may be worthy but we must be sure the ACB members monies are being spent prudently on a topic relevant to our practice. The hypothesis must be clearly stated andhow this is to be put to the test. The project must be achievable i.e. within a reasonabletime frame, with the resources available and with the funding applied for.

It is intended the following information may be of help when considering whether toapply and then putting together your proposal.

Who Can Apply?Any ACB member of any grade is eligible. Previous successful applications have come fromtrainees looking for support of a Grade A training project and more senior trainees lookingfor MRCPath project support. Funding has also been given to established members of theprofession, although we do ask that they include a more junior member in their applica-tion to add a teaching aspect to the project. The home laboratory is of little importance justso long as the facilities are suitable for completion of the study. We have had applicationsTeaching Trusts, District Generals and specialised research institutes. All applications aretreated with equal interest.

The ApplicationThe most important advice is to keep it relevant, simple and succinct. Applications in thepast have failed by obscuring the aim of the project by including irrelevant detail (aproblem of “signal” to “noise”). The project outline should not be the size of an introduction to a PhD thesis! Your task will be to explain the project to non-experts,although we will seek advice of independent experts.

Having explained what you want to do, then we ask you to explain how you intend todo it. We are looking for precise, thoughtful planning to ensure that once you have yourdata, it is possible to interpret and draw conclusions. For example, how many subjects arethere to be in control and patient groups (will there be enough for statistical significance?),how are they to be recruited? Simply stating that there will be 50-100 subjects in eachgroup shows lack of thought and planning.

The project must be costed. We are dealing with ACB funds so we must be certain as tohow it is to be used. This is often an indicator of how well a project is planned and if wefeel that the project is of merit but unable to justify full funding then we will be in a

ACB ScientificScholarship . . .Time to Applyby Robert Hill, Scientific Committee Secretary

Scientific Committee Scientific Committee Scientific Committee


position to offer a useful amount. If there are a lot of applications then wemay be able to do more good by spreading the available funds over agreater number of projects. A breakdown of costs will enable us to decideif an offer of some funding would do any good.

Reasons for ApplyingThe number of applications in each funding round is usually modest andso the likelihood of success is better than with other funding bodies. TheScientific Committee are more accessible than other funding bodies withthe application form and the process is a lot simpler. If you are looking forfunding for a small project or funding for a more ambitious project, just toget it off the ground, then this is an ideal route to take. If you would like todiscuss the suitability for your application then please contact either theSecretary or Chairman of the Scientific Committee. All we ask is that toachieve funding the study must address a question of relevance to clinicalbiochemistry. We also ask that the aim of the project must be clearly statedand attainable within the timescale and funding of the study, it is importantthat it is planned and costed.

In return we do ask for a report to ensure that the members’ money hasbeen spent sensibly and enable us to audit the funding process. We lookforward to receiving your application.

Application – Practical AspectsApplicants need to request an application form from Dr Robert Hill,Secretary of the Scientific Committee at: [email protected] Dr RP Hill, Secretary of the Scientific Committee, Department of ClinicalChemistry, King’s Mill Hospital, Mansfield Rd., Sutton-in Ashfield NG17 4JL. Tel: 01623-672381.

Closing date for applications is August 1st 2006. If you wish to discussyour application further please contact either Dr R P Hill at the aboveaddress, or Dr Denis O’Reilly (Chair of the Scientific Committee)Department of Biochemistry, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Castle Street,Glasgow G4 0SF. Email: [email protected] ■

A Personal View A Personal View A Personal View A Personal View


In 1989 a close relative died suddenly and unexpectedly while on holiday inthe United States. I was an executor and received with all the other documen-tation, the invoice for her brief stay in intensive care. Every laboratory test,

every infusion, every needle, every dressing, every swab that had been used wasitemised and costed with sub-totals and a final billed amount. I knew, of course,that care was charged for in the US but for someone like myself brought up inthe bill-free NHS such detail seemed shocking and even intrusive.

Bartering Brillo Pads for BenchkoteIt was also in 1989 that Margaret Thatcher’s government published ‘Working forPatients’, the most significant reorganisation of the NHS since its inception in1948. Affordability of the NHS was a major concern. Margaret Thatcherfamously pointed out that in Europe only the Russian Army employed morepeople than the NHS. As a right of centre Government, the answer was thoughtto lie with business practices and the ideas of an ‘internal market’ with ‘pur-chasers and providers’. The aims were clear, to ensure that the true cost of NHStreatment was known to users of the service and staff and to improve efficiencyby getting hospitals and units to compete with one another. A far cry from anearlier era when the storekeepers of neighbouring hospitals had a barteringsystem to maintain supplies – 20 Brillo Pads for a roll of Benchkote. Supporterssaw this as a timely reform by which to bring the 1948 NHS model into linewith business practices. Others pointed to the bureaucratic (and financial) cost ofbilling systems, that the proposals threatened the principle of health care free atthe point of use and that a strength of the NHS was co-operation, not competi-tion between hospitals.

Bean Counting . . .In the following years, in response to the gathering pressures to be financiallyaware, I costed every test in my Department to within two decimal places of a ‘p’ (bit obsessive that). Every cost to the Department was entered into a large spreadsheet. Staffing, consumables, QC and so on. I seem to remember that heat,light and management services were top sliced from the budget on the basis offloor area and were therefore added in. If the cost of staffing or reagentschanged, for example, it would be entered and fed through the calculations tothe affected tests or profiles. The cost for a test was thus very close to its a truecost (fixed plus marginal) and could be treated as a price. Not having progressedall the way to a private business, I do not remember a mark-up being includedbut it would have been easy to apply. This was not a solo effort, other units in thehospital and throughout the NHS were doing the same, many using commer-cially available packages. It was never used in anger. The government changed, aleft of centre party upheld the founding principles of the NHS and steered itaway from commercial practices …. for a time.

Payment for Work We DoBy John Rattenbury, West Bromwich

A Personal View A Personal View A Personal View A Personal View


Clinical Biochemistry, Pathology and most other services in the NHS have experienced aninexorable rise in workload due to Government initiatives to reduce patient waiting times,and reform GP services. Increases in the workload of Clinical Biochemistry have been documented in two recent reports.1,2 The budgets allocated to Pathology, negotiated byhospital management with the PCTs, though increased, inevitably lag behind the increasedwork. It is a bit like taxation where self-assessment taxes you on last years earnings. Theabove reports showed that the increase in workload has been accompanied by a deficit ofstaff in Clinical Biochemistry Departments. But now it is worse, much worse. Trusts areoverspent and cost improvement programmes, recruitment freezes and redundancies areimpacting on pathology.

The solution, perhaps the very salvation, lies with itemised charging. With rare exceptions, we are unable to limit demand. We investigate the samples we are sent andcannot refuse them. The Government, though still wedded to NHS founding principles, islooking increasingly at commercial-style solutions for NHS funding. It has announced that15% of health care should be out-sourced to the private sector. The GMS contract althoughnot strictly a fee per item arrangement nevertheless has that effect. Points are awarded forthe HbA1c, microalbumin, cholesterol, TFT, PSA and now eGFR requests that come ourway. The current situation is breaking the backs of some Pathology departments.

eGFR and More . . .Billing per item already occurs between laboratories for samples referred to specialist units.Pathology IT systems can list and locate tests for billing. An editorial last month in ACBNews made the case quite clearly for charging for eGFR results. We should no longer beintroducing services like eGFR and not charging for all the work involved. Itemisedcharging brings fairness and transparency. It might even make users consider what they arerequesting and why and limit some of the more fanciful requests that we all experience.

Could the cross-charging be contained between Pathology and its users or would it be areturn to ‘the money following the patient’, a return to the 1989 ‘purchaser/provider’split? There is no reason why it should. Monetary contracts are established now betweenPrimary Care and Hospital Trusts. What would happen if a GP or a whole PCT spent theirallocation? Would patients be left without essential investigations? Management couldsurely work out a system to avoid this. There is no evidence that the GMS contract hasresulted in investigations not included in the points system being neglected. What aboutthe hospital work? Lets concentrate on GP work and the GMS contract where most of thepressure applies. Clinical budgeting, cross-charging between hospital departments, couldbe looked at later. Would Pathology Departments become clones of private laboratories:minimally skilled, token consultant cover, no Biochemists, no R&D, no training? Not necessarily, the constraints and principles of the NHS would still apply.

The required response to the funding lag in Pathology Departments, for a professionunder siege, is to bill per item. Check-outs have to be installed in Pathology departmentsright now!

1 NHS Clinical Biochemistry: A Profession Under Siege. A report published in May 2002on consultant staffing in NHS clinical biochemistry from the Task Force established byThe Association for Clinical Biochemistry and The Royal College of Pathologists.

2 Beastall G H. Clinical Biochemistry Workload Trends 2000-2004: The Impact of theGeneral Medical Services Contract? Royal College of Pathologists, July 2004. ■

Situations Vacant Situations Vacant Situations Vacant Situations


Consultant Clinical BiochemistBand 8d £57,745-£71,954 pa

Applications are invited for this new post that has arisen because of expansion of the department. The post is based at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, a teaching Hospital of the Peninsula Medical School.The hospital is situated in the northern part of the city, close to the airport yet within easy reach ofDartmoor, the coast and East Cornwall. Derriford has more than 1,100 beds and provides acute healthcare for 450,000 people and tertiary care for a population of up to 2 million. The Clinical BiochemistryDepartment performs 4.4 million tests per annum and is part of a CPA accredited Combined Laboratorywith haematology, immunology and molecular biology. The post-holder will be eligible to be Head ofthe Combined Laboratory as appropriate.

We are seeking to recruit an experienced and dynamic Clinical Biochemist to help realise the clinicaland scientific aspirations of this developing department. Applicants must be registered Clinical Scientistswith MRCPath, or equivalent and have a broad knowledge of Clinical Biochemistry and good communi-cation skills.

For further information or to arrange an informal visit please contact: Dr Ruth Ayling, ConsultantChemical Pathologist on Tel: 01752-792291. Email: [email protected]

For a job description, person specification and application form contact Alison Gregory on Tel: 01752-792119. Email: [email protected]

Closing date for completed applications: Friday 23rd June 2006.

Plymouth HospitalsNHS Trust

To advertise your

vacancy contact:ACB Administrative Office,

130-132 Tooley Street,

London SE1 2TU

Tel: 0207-403-8001

Fax: 0207-403-8006

Email: [email protected]

Deadline: 26th of the month prior

to the month of publication

Training Posts: When applying for such postsyou should ensure that appropriate

supervision and training support will be available to enable you to proceed towards

state registration and the MRCPath examinations.

For advice, contact your Regional Tutor.

The editor reserves the right to amend or reject advertisements deemed unacceptable to the Association.

Advertising rates are available on request

the association for clinical biochemistry •issue 517 ...€¦ · the association for clinical...

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