Last month (29 September 2025), Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) pathology colleagues welcomed former Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (MYTT) microbiology colleagues into their team at the Centre for Laboratory Medicine (CfLM).
 
22 staff have made the permanent move as part of our work across WYAAT to develop pathology services to be more sustainable and resilient to the future needs of our local population.

Microbiology is the study of bacteria, viruses, and other microbes that are invisible to the human eye. Moving microbiology services into the CfLM, will enable more consistent, clinically appropriate turnaround times, ensuring the right test is available at the right time for patients across the region.

The microbiology move forms part of a larger plan for a pathology partnership, centralising some services to fewer sites where previously they were hosted in all three trusts across West Yorkshire - LTHT, MYTT and Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT). Consolidating testing to fewer sites allows for a more consistent and streamlined service, providing the same high-quality service to patients across the region, regardless of where they live.

Former MYTT staff now settled into the CfLM have commented positively about the move, noting that the tours offered around the CfLM and St. James’s hospital site prior to the move helped to familiarise them with their new working environment, and that LTHT staff were “welcoming, helpful and kind” throughout the transition.

Planning is underway to move CHFT’s microbiology service across to the CfLM in summer 2026, following a vital digital hardware and software upgrade to the regional Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Colleagues responsible for managing the CHFT move are also embedding the learning and feedback from former MYTT colleagues into the planning of this move.

Commenting on the MYTT microbiology move, Lucy Cole, WYAAT Director, said:

“An incredible amount of work has gone into preparing for this move. In the last six years, our pathology teams have tackled a new LIMS procurement, design and deployment, developed and moved to this fantastic facility, procurement and deployment of new shared equipment platforms, not to mention the small matter of an unprecedented global pandemic which had a huge impact for microbiology teams. We are very appreciative of our colleagues for their continued patience and persistence during this period of change.”

The CfLM laboratory was constructed in 2023 and there has been a phased approach to staff moving into the laboratory over the last year. The new laboratory provides a bespoke environment supported by the latest technologies, state-of-the art equipment and greater integration of automated processes, providing a modern pathology environment.