Case Study
Four NHS trusts share one testing platform to implement WinPath Enterprise, with 234 active users and 48 approvers working through a structured two-stage process.
South 4 Pathology Partnership: Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Swindon
Executive Summary
The South 4 Pathology Partnership brings together the laboratories of four NHS trusts in Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Swindon, which together perform approximately 10 million laboratory tests a year. The partnership implemented WinPath Enterprise from Clinisys as its new laboratory information management system (LIMS), a complex multi-site, multi-discipline project that ran over several years.
Thousands of test scripts had to be written, executed, reviewed and approved before end-to-end testing could begin, while subject matter experts (SMEs) kept day-to-day laboratory services running. Recognising that spreadsheets would not be enough, the partnership adopted Cymetryc as its central testing platform, with 234 active users and 48 approvers registered.
A two-stage workflow let non-specialists complete scripted verification and capture evidence while SMEs reviewed and approved the results. The partnership went live in March 2025 and still uses Cymetryc for issue tracking, business-as-usual testing and future LIMS upgrades.
Four NHS trusts performing around 10 million laboratory tests a year
234 active users and 48 approvers registered in Cymetryc
WinPath Enterprise live in March 2025, with Cymetryc still in daily use
“It was clear early on that we could not have tackled this enormous project without Cymetryc. We could not have imagined managing it with only spreadsheets.”
— Judy Craft, Programme Lead, South 4 Pathology Partnership
The Challenge
The project set out to create a single shared testing system across all four sites, plan and execute thousands of test scripts, streamline testing and approval, and deliver complete testing coverage while keeping clinical services running.
As the project progressed, the team realised the scale of the testing work had been underestimated.
“Testing was a bigger beast than we thought, and it was scheduled for less time than we probably needed. If you’ve never done this before, it’s often a once-in-a-career event.”
— Samantha Cragg, IT Project Manager
With four trusts, several disciplines and hundreds of people involved, the partnership needed more structure and visibility than spreadsheets could give.
The partnership needed one shared platform that every trust could use, with clear separation between doing the testing and approving it.
The Project
The partnership adopted Cymetryc as its centralised testing platform. It brought testing across all four trusts into one place, standardised thousands of test scripts and let the team track progress across hundreds of users in real time.
Cymetryc’s two-stage workflow separated execution from approval. Non-specialists performed scripted verification and captured the evidence, while SMEs kept oversight by reviewing and approving the results.
“One of the real beauties of the system was the two-stage process. Non-specialists could complete the verification steps and capture evidence while subject matter experts reviewed and approved the results.”
— Judy Craft, Programme Lead
Being web-based also made it far easier for four separate organisations to work together.
“We are all different trusts that use different systems. The fact that Cymetryc was web-based and easy to log into by all sites, this was very important to us. Once people had access, they could just get on with it.”
— Samantha Cragg, IT Project Manager
Non-specialists completed the verification steps and captured evidence, so SMEs could focus on reviewing and approving.
Results & Impact
4
NHS Trusts
Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Swindon, testing on one shared platform
234
Active Users
Registered in Cymetryc across the partnership for the multi-year project
48
Approvers
SMEs reviewing and approving results in the two-stage workflow
10M
Tests a Year
Approximate annual laboratory test volume across the four trusts
“If there was one thing that really helped us, it would be Cymetryc. It enables you to structure things, see where you are at all times, and manage the complete testing and approval process.”
— Judy Craft, Programme Lead, South 4 Pathology Partnership
Next Phase
Small touches helped too. “People got a lot of joy out of the confetti when they completed a test case or approval,” says Samantha. “It’s the small things sometimes that bring joy.”
The partnership still uses Cymetryc long after its March 2025 go-live. “Even today we use Cymetryc to send issues to each other, track them, and support our business-as-usual testing. It will continue to be our platform for future LIMS upgrade projects,” Judy says.
For other laboratories preparing for a major LIMS deployment, the team’s advice is to allow far more time for testing than expected, plan carefully for SME availability, reserve enough time for full end-to-end testing, and recognise that telling system issues apart from training needs is often hard.
“We don’t have any experience performing software testing on a large scale using anything other than Cymetryc, but I can’t imagine doing it with anything other than a proper testing platform like Cymetryc.”
— Judy Craft, Programme Lead, South 4 Pathology Partnership
Give testing significantly more time than you first expect, including full end-to-end testing.
Plan carefully for resource availability and subject matter expert involvement.
For projects of this scale, use a purpose-built testing platform rather than spreadsheets.
Security & compliance
SOC 2
Type 2
ISO
27001:2022
HIPAA
Compliant
GDPR
Compliant
