NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde joins the Harvey's Lab Tours family

It's been a busy few weeks for Harvey's Lab Tours, with several new hospital sites joining our growing programme.

Among the latest to come on board is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), Scotland's largest NHS organisation, which has now introduced its first young visitor to the laboratories at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).

Harvey's Lab Tours had been discussed before, but it stalled in the planning stages. Earlier this year, however, Specialist Biomedical Scientist Stephanie Dymond took on the challenge of getting the programme up and running.

To help prepare, Stephanie reached out to Gayle Johnstone at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, where Harvey's Lab Tours are already well established.

She was extremely helpful and encouraging, and even very kindly let me come to Dumfries to shadow a tour earlier this year. It was an amazing experience getting to see Gayle in action and gave me some great ideas and confidence for setting up and running the tours.

With support from colleagues across Haematology, Blood Transfusion and Biochemistry, Stephanie has now assembled a team of volunteers to deliver tours for paediatric outpatients.

Now that our lab tours are officially underway, I'm so excited to start showing our young patients what goes on behind the scenes. My main hope is to demystify the lab, boost their confidence around their healthcare, and help them feel empowered and in control of their own care journey.

Matthew's tour

Six year old Matthew visited the blood sciences laboratories with his mum Ashley and dad Thomas.

Matthew was already familiar with having blood samples taken, having attended hospital appointments since birth. But he was particularly curious about where they went afterwards and what happened to them.

Stephanie, from Haematology and Blood Transfusion, and Ainsley Steel, from Biochemistry, were on hand to answer his questions and show him around.

After receiving his own lab coat and Harvey Bear, Matthew got straight to work with a colour-changing experiment demonstrating how biochemistry analysers work.

He quickly mastered the instructions and even created his own pretend blood sample. In fact, his mixture was so convincing that some of the biomedical scientists in the laboratory mistook it for a real sample!

Matthew also followed the journey of samples through the laboratory, learning about haematology, coagulation and blood transfusion. He even got to hold a bag of platelets and gently keep them moving, just as the platelet agitator does in the department.

His excitement made the first tour a memorable experience for everyone involved.

Matthew summed up his visit, saying:

It was amazing and special, I loved it.

His mum, Ashley, also looked back on the value of the experience:

For children who spend a lot of time in hospital, knowledge can be really empowering. Being able to see where samples go and understand why tests are important helps make everything feel less daunting and gives them a greater sense of control.

With their first tour successfully completed, Stephanie and the team are looking forward to welcoming more young patients and their families into the laboratory.

Harvey's Lab Tours at NHSGGC are currently available to paediatric outpatients. For more information or to enquire about a tour, please contact [email protected].