Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has successfully completed its go-live with Cirdan ULTRA, the next-generation Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), in its Cellular Pathology department. This marks a major milestone in the Trust’s digital transformation journey and the new system is already delivering clear benefits to laboratory teams and clinicians alike.

The ULTRA implementation is a collaborative success story between Sherwood Forest Hospitals and global diagnostics technology provider Cirdan. The go-live took place in late April, with all Cellular Pathology tests now being processed within the new system. The Cirdan team worked closely with local staff across technical, clinical and IT teams to prepare for a seamless transition.

“The ULTRA implementation at Sherwood has been remarkably smooth, with strong engagement from all involved,”said James Arnold, Project Manager at Cirdan. “Feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive — many have commented on how intuitive and efficient ULTRA is to use, and the system is already making a meaningful impact in their daily workflows. The collaboration between Sherwood and Cirdan throughout the project has been exceptional, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see that partnership deliver such a successful and well-received implementation.”

Laura Ellis, Project Manager at Cirdan, added:

“We could not have asked for a better, more dedicated team to work with. The Sherwood team was meticulous in their testing and demonstrated exceptional commitment to the project’s success. It was a pleasure to see the users adopt the system with such enthusiasm from day one, and I’m looking forward to continuing with the strong partnership in the future.”

The new ULTRA system is fully integrated with Sherwood Forest’s critical downstream systems, including ICE, Infoflex, and Labcomms, ensuring results are delivered directly to GPs and consultants with greater efficiency. The implementation also involved the successful migration of historical patient data from the Trust’s legacy LIMS, requiring rigorous validation and teamwork from both Sherwood Forest’s IT department and Cirdan’s Data Services team.

Throughout the rollout, the Cirdan team received positive feedback from Pathologists and Biomedical Scientists onsite, particularly on the system’s user-friendly interface and the improved speed and efficiency in completing reports and cases.

The launch was marked with a celebration onsite, attended by members of the Cellular Pathology team and Cirdan representatives. Locum consultant Iresha Vithanage brought in traditional Sri Lankan dishes to share, and Saroona Haroon’s 13-year-old daughter, Sunaina, created bespoke tote bags for all attendees—further reflecting the community spirit of the event.

Commenting on the success of the project, Sherwood Forest Hospital Trust’s Clair Slenley, Cellular Pathology Manager; Sidra Kalsoom, IT/Digital Lead; and Dr Saroona Haroon, Consultant Histopathologist and IT Clinical Lead, said:

 ‘It is a daunting prospect implementing a new LIMS, however, we felt very supported from the earliest stages of getting to grips with ULTRA right up to the go-live and beyond.

We had dedicated support from both internal teams, a data migration team and the Cirdan ULTRA team which meant a seamless focussed programme leading up to a successful implementation.

The Cirdan team’s approach to planning out the implementation phases was extremely helpful which we were able to share with our whole team and to make life feel a little less scary in preparation for our go-live date.

As with all new systems, there have been unexpected issues along the way, however, the Cirdan team has been extremely responsive and dealt with each issue swiftly and professionally, even when dealing with many multiple asks!

Although ULTRA is very different from our previous LIMS, we have gained many efficiencies and from the go-live date, staff find it a much easier system to use’.

This implementation forms part of a wider programme to enhance digital maturity within NHS pathology services, aligning with the vision for more connected and efficient laboratory medicine.

Author: Bronagh McStravick