Harvey’s Lab Tours help young patients and their families feel more at ease
By connecting children with the biomedical science staff who process and analyse their samples, these visits help ease fears and build understanding.
Visiting a lab can offer reassurance to young patients while giving staff a rare opportunity to meet the individuals behind the samples they work with every day.
Through this unique experience, patients and families can see first-hand how biomedical science supports diagnosis and treatment, turning a clinical process into a human connection.
Why Harvey’s Lab Tours?
Visiting the lab helps young patients to:
- understand the importance of their blood tests and other samples
- meet the biomedical scientists who work behind the scenes
- feel more confident and in control of their healthcare journey.
For families, it’s a chance to ask questions and learn more about the treatment process, making the hospital experience a little less daunting.
I feel braver now when I have my blood taken at hospital. I enjoyed wearing a white lab coat, writing out a blood test label, and finding lots of different equipment around the lab. At the end, I got a special certificate and a Harvey teddy, and I took them to school to show my teachers and friends in assembly!
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Harvey’s Lab Tours don’t just benefit the children—they also give staff the chance to meet the young patients behind the samples, connect with families, and see the impact of their work firsthand.
If you’re a parent interested in arranging a tour for your child, or a laboratory looking to host future tours, please complete our online form.
Please note
This form is for parents of young patients and for laboratories interested in hosting tours.
We are unable to offer tours for students, graduates or members of the public.
Our story
Where it all began
In 2013, Malcolm Robinson, a biomedical scientist in blood transfusion at Western Sussex NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust, was asked to give a tour of his laboratory to seven-year-old Harvey Baldwin. Harvey was receiving treatment for leukaemia at Worthing Hospital and was curious to know what happened to his blood samples.
Malcolm arranged a special visit, presenting Harvey with a lab coat and naming him a ‘Trainee Scientist’ for the day. Harvey got to watch his own blood sample being processed and explored the lab’s equipment and machines. He asked questions throughout, gaining a better understanding of his care—and his parents did too.
The visit had a big impact on the lab staff as well. For many, it was the first time they’d met a patient whose samples they handled so often. It brought a personal connection to their work that stayed with them.
In Harvey’s memory
Inspired by Harvey’s enthusiasm, Malcolm set out to share the experience more widely. By 2018, 40 laboratories across the UK were offering similar tours.
By the end of 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, that number had grown to around 100 sites. Hundreds of young patients were now able to take part in Harvey’s Gang tours—exploring labs, watching their own samples being analysed, and meeting the scientists behind the scenes. Each child receives a goody bag, a certificate of attendance, and, of course, their very own lab coat.
These tours have become valuable not just for the children and their families, but also for hospital staff. They help strengthen relationships between pathology and the wards, improve communication with patients and parents, and bring teams closer together.
New beginnings
In April 2023, as Malcolm retired and the charity was dissolved, the trustees entrusted the IBMS to carry Harvey’s legacy forward.
As the new custodians, we’re committed to expanding access to these tours so more children—and more IBMS members—can benefit. In 2024, the initiative was renamed and given a refreshed logo to reflect its core purpose and bring clarity and positivity to the children and families we support.
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