How the A95TG is making a difference at Noble's Hospital

Date: 14^th July 2020

Rebbeca Shields explained to DWS that they are a diagnostic laboratory so prepare anaerobic plates that have been pre-reduced. They are looking for clinically significant anaerobes. With around 200 plates in the workstation at any one time, they have about 60 plates going in and 60 coming out each day. However, this doesn’t seem to impact on the room they need to work as Rebbeca explained: “We keep 30 pre-reduced plates on the shelf at the top and find there is plenty of room for everything else we need to do.”

Useful features

The Nobles workstation has both the Anaerobic and Catalyst Monitoring Systems fitted and Rebbeca feels that this has definitely given the team more confidence. Rebbeca added, “We used to have to do these checks manually and had to use a strip to test for anaerobiosis every morning. Now we have the security of knowing that the conditions will be anaerobic or that an alarm will alert us if that’s not the case. In terms of data logging, we download data every 28 days and that is really useful for audit purposes.” They also really like the automatic sleeve gassing system, which helps them to gas the sleeves correctly and efficiently.

Training

The colour touchscreen has proven to be popular as they like that all workstation parameters are displayed on screen. The team finds it very user-friendly. They didn’t require a lot of training on the use of the A95TG because they had had a Whitley Workstation before but Rebbeca added that “We took advantage of the free training and our sales contact, Alex [Simpson], was great at explaining the differences between the two units and ensuring we were comfortable with all the new features that we didn’t have on the old cabinet.”

Capacity and airlock

Having had a Whitley Workstation before (a 1000 and Airlock), the team at Noble's opted for a similar sized workstation, knowing that the capacity of the chamber and size of the airlock (30 litres) was ideal for them. Rebbeca did comment that they were impressed by the faster airlock speed. Having such a large workstation, we asked if personnel are able to reach and navigate inside the workstation. It seems that the team has perfected their techniques over the years and finds that using the airlock trays and the pushrod tool are really helpful.

Improved conditions and savings

We wanted to find out if Rebbeca had any problems with the workstation such as humidity issues or excessive gas usage and she told us: “We don’t have any humidity issues with the A95TG at all. In terms of gas usage, we do monitor this and I think we are actually using less gas with the A95TG.”

Servicing and maintenance

According to Rebbeca, the new workstation is reliable and easy to maintain, “We have a service contract with DWS so they are there if we need them. It’s sometimes difficult to get equipment serviced out here on the Isle of Man!”

And finally, we asked Rebbeca why they decided to buy a Whitley Workstation and she responded, “Their workstations are reliable and we have a good relationship with DWS. We knew we would get a good quality product.”

We would like to thank Rebbeca Shields for her time, her comments about
the A95TG and her dealings with Don Whitley Scientific.

Rebbeca Shields
Chief Biomedical Scientist
Noble's Hospital, Isle of Man