Rosalind Franklin Laboratory to broaden capacity
On Tuesday, July 13, the Department of Health and Social Care opened a new 225,000 square-foot laboratory in Royal Leamington Spa.
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Rosalind Franklin Laboratory – named to honour a scientist whose pioneering research into viruses, DNA and RNA remain of lasting benefit to the world – is the largest COVID-19 UK laboratory of its kind and will operate 24/7 to process COVID-19 tests. On site advancements include LGC EndPoint PCR testing workflow for COVID-19, which has ultra-high capacity and can process up to 150,000 tests each day on a single machine.
The laboratory is the latest to join the network of NHS Test and Trace laboratories and will be owned and run by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Alongside the processing of PCR tests, the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory has the ambition to offer genomic sequencing, potentially undertaking up to 50,000 sequences a week - hoping to strengthen our world-leading surveillance system to identify mutations and variants of concern.
The IBMS have been assured that the laboratory leadership are working with Coventry University’s IBMS accredited Applied Biomedical Sciences Degree programme to provide placements and training, in turn supporting the HCPC registration of future NHS biomedical scientists. We are hopeful that the biomedical science profession has been heard and that the laboratory will also assure the quality of testing throughout, the competence of all staff and its integration with NHS systems (set out in our statement last year).
As we approach 19th July, the IBMS and our members are mindful that testing will be as important as ever to mitigate the impact of the virus. Throughout the pandemic, our laboratories have faced workforce availability issues and IBMS members have been going beyond the call of duty to support the testing programme. New laboratories and testing streams that support the profession, while maintaining the profession's high standards, are very welcome.