Hercules arrives to take on record testing

And that’s exactly what you get with The Alfred’s new pathology sample analyser.

Coinciding with a record number of COVID-19 samples being received by The Alfred’s pathology team last week, Hercules (formally known as the Roche Cobas 8800) has doubled the department’s capacity to deliver results.

Head of Microbiology at The Alfred, Dr Adam Jenney, says Hercules needs to be “seen to be believed.”

“Hercules is a workhorse,” said Dr Jenney. “While the time it takes to extract, amplify and read a sample doesn’t change, we can load 376 specimens onto the four conveyor belts at any one time, compared to our next best machine which holds 188.”

“Hercules is elegant, efficient, and will help us cut turnaround times, which is really crucial at the moment.”

Dr Jenney’s team of 20 is responsible for analysing COVID results from The Alfred’s screening clinic, Sandringham Ambulatory Care Centre, COVID Quarantine Hotels, inpatients and patients in our two Emergency Departments, and hospital and hotel staff surveillance.

“The increase in demand at the moment is reflective of the rise in cases in the South East,” said Dr Jenney. “We’ve never been this busy.”

“Last week we averaged 2500 results per day, which is almost 300 more than at any other stage during the pandemic.”

Hercules joins a suite of analysers which test and report on a range of viruses, including HIV, Hepatitis B and C and Cytomegalovirus, and is currently processing around 75% of all COVID tests for the department.