THIS IS THEIR STORY IN PHOTOS.
< The lady in blue is Premika,
a recent new graduate and
in charge of the T2 & compass
stainer in the lab. She is keen
to further her cytology and
has subsequently been sent
information regarding cytology
training courses from the
Victorian Cytology Services
laboratory in Melbourne.
BULA
THINPREP!
*
Samosa vans in the street outside
the hospital, mongooses scurrying
in the grounds, sweltering at the
microscope with non-functional
air-conditioning, centrifuges that
don’t seal, and tubes stoppered
with cotton wool…
Stuart with a scientist >
at the RSM+.
The entrance of the Suva Colonial War Memorial Hospital.
< orey and Michelle
C
on their first trip to
Fiji, sightseeing after
meetings, 2010.
Ian hand-delivered the document, leaving on
Tuesday to make the many connections.
Following the well-worn, cross-country potholed
roads, lined with chicken and livestock, he made
the deadline of Wednesday morning.
Despite competition—Hologic won the order
for a complete system, including two ThinPrep
2000 processors, compass stainer and a
ThinPrep imaging processor with a RSM+
(review scope manual). Installation began
December 2013 and was completed before
Christmas by Chris Ward, Diagnostic
Service Consultant.
The nurses and doctor
from the Oxfam Clinic
in Suva.
Over a two-week period, product
implementation and training was completed
by Stuart Dobson and Myfanwy Blyth,
Diagnostic Applications and Sales Specialist,
both from Melbourne, Australia. Their first
challenge was to train the right team
members to process and read the ThinPrep
slides. During the 100-slide validation, they
helped the cytology team identify two cases
of high-grade abnormal cervical disease
that were not detected on the conventional
smear. Technical and applications support
is now ongoing.
Today, lab staff no longer has to wade through
trays of conventional Pap smears teeming with
Trichomonas vaginalis inflammatory cells and
air-drying artefacts. Morphology is now crisp
and well preserved, allowing cytological decisions
to be made with greater confidence. Hours of
screening time have been cut, eradicating the
huge backlog of work, and freeing up some
“Fiji time” for more delicious samosas, thanks
in large part to the ANZ team.
* ula originates from the Fijian culture and means anything from hello, goodbye, welcome, love and more. It means LIFE.
B
>
The Department of Health procurement team
of Fiji then decided to “tender” or invite bids
for a liquid-based cytology system to be installed
at the hospital. When the tender was released,
the ANZ Hologic team had five days to complete
and deliver it to Suva, requiring them to produce
a voluminous document over one weekend.
Stephanie McKell, Diagnostic and Molecular
Applications and Sales Specialist, Perth,
Western Australia, completed all the technical
responses in record time. Paul Reilly, the ANZ
Service Manager, compiled the service costs
and the rest was written, printed, collated and
bound ready to take to Fiji by Monday afternoon.
The lady in the white
coat at the microscope
is Dr. Litia Tudravu,
cytopathologist at CWH.
The cytopathologist, and
the woman in pink is her
registrar, Dr. Vilomena
Ranadi, Registrar.
>
< Myf leaving the Cytology
and Histology lab
after completing the
applications install
of the ThinPrep system.
IMPACT
APRIL 2014 | 11