40 Revolutionising laboratory audits with a mobile app and connected web-based inventory

Clinical laboratories maintain a high level of accuracy, and standards, by monitoring and auditing information about reagents, consumables and equipment. For manual assays at GOSH much of our process is paper based, making record-keeping time consuming, repetitive and prone to errors. This project aimed to digitalise our processes to record, store, and audit information relating to each assay. A collaboration between GOSH and UCL Computer Science, Industry Exchange Network (UCL IXN), was set up to develop a mobile and web-based application. The mobile application was developed using Ionic with Angular, and the web application was built using React.js. The back end of each application was set up using an Express server in Node.JS and hosted in on Microsoft Azure. The system, featuring a mobile app connected to a web-based inventory/database, together solves the problem of using multiple systems and manual data entry. The applications are unique, combining both a database of reagents, consumables and equipment, and a user-friendly system of recording what is used from the database when performing laboratory tests. Another distinct feature is that it allows the user to create, modify and add new tests. This system has the potential to improve the quality of data capture, reducing missing information and errors, and can improve reporting by facilitating data retrieval, monitoring and auditing. Having all the information stored in one place allows for troubleshooting to be carried out quickly and efficiently; reducing the number of subsequent errors, repeat analyses, and has the potential to improve turnaround times. The centralised database also simplifies the audit process, highlighting where performances do not meet current standards, supporting future improvements to laboratory processes and improving quality of patient results. The system developed improves data recording, which in turn improves patient care through increased accuracy, reliability and quality of patient results.