North West London Pathology (NWLP), hosted by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and Abbott, Abbott Park, Ill, have signed a $252 million managed equipment services contract for the supply of all analytical equipment and consumables. The agreement includes Abbott’s Alinity ci and Alinity h series of diagnostic instruments, as well as the company’s professional services and informatics solutions known as AlinIQ.

The contract was the subject of a detailed and competitive procurement process conducted by NWLP. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, and the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust consolidated their pathology services into NWLP earlier this year to better manage demand, standardize operations, improve value for money, and make use of new technologies.

Stephen Snewin, North West London Pathology.

Stephen Snewin, North West London Pathology.

“NWLP aims to provide an innovative and sustainable pathology service which delivers outstanding quality for our patients and clinicians,” says Stephen Snewin, managing director of NWLP. “After a highly competitive process involving multiple diagnostic equipment manufacturers, NWLP is extremely excited to be working with Abbott, which supports our vision of increased efficiency and transformation across six major sites in North West London using the latest technology.”

The partnership is expected to manage 26 million tests per year and currently holds 6% of the total pathology market in the United Kingdom.

Mike Clayton, Abbott.

Mike Clayton, Abbott.

“Abbott is delighted to provide NWLP with personalized Alinity and AlinIQ solutions to help them navigate the challenges of an evolving healthcare system,” says Mike Clayton, managing director of Northern Europe for Abbott’s diagnostics business. “Through our partnership, we will equip NWLP to help maximize productivity, drive faster delivery of test results, and provide the critical information needed for clinical decisions—with the goal of helping the trust improve patient outcomes.”

The hospitals included within the partnership are: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which comprises St Mary’s Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital, and the Western Eye Hospital; Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust, which comprises Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital; and Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which comprises Hillingdon Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital.

Abbott’s Alinity family of harmonized solutions was developed to work together to address the challenges of using multiple diagnostic platforms and to simplify diagnostic testing.

The Alinity portfolio includes Alinity c (clinical chemistry), Alinity i (immunoassay), Alinity s (blood and plasma screening), i-Stat Alinity (point of care), Alinity h (hematology), and Alinity m (molecular) diagnostics, along with Abbott’s AlinIQ.

For more information, visit Abbott.