Health board signs £100m deal for labs

A HEALTH board has signed a major contract to bring the latest technology and laboratory services to Scotland.

The contract, worth £100 million over seven years, was signed yesterday by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in a deal with global healthcare company Abbott Laboratories.

It will provide laboratories across the health board area with the tools to deliver diagnostic services for biochemistry, haematology, microbiology, genetics and pathology which are said to have “clear financial and clinical benefits”.

The funding will also be used to equip a new five-storey “super lab” at the Southern General Hospital campus, which is expected to open in spring next year.

The laboratory contract means that rapid round-the-clock results can be provided, with patient samples being processed faster and more efficiently.

Robert Calderwood, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “This is the largest laboratory contract in the world and we are delighted Abbott are being awarded this contract as they are world leaders in their field.”

Abbott is a global health- care company that develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals and medical products.

The company employs nearly 90,000 people and sells its products in more than 130 countries.