Operations Design & Optimisation
Operations Design & Optimisation
We help diagnostic services increase capacity, reduce turnaround times and improve productivity — by identifying exactly where time, resource and capacity are being lost, then redesigning the operation to remove them.
Find where capacity is really being lost.
Diagnostic services face increasing demand, workforce constraints, rising costs and pressure to deliver faster results.
Often the answer isn't simply more people, more equipment or more space.
The challenge is understanding where capacity is being lost, what is constraining performance and what needs to change.
Understand the operation from end to end.
We combine operational experience with detailed analysis to understand the service from end to end.
We examine demand, capacity, workflow, staffing, technology, space, processes and interfaces to identify both immediate opportunities and the changes required for sustainable improvement.
More from the resources you already have.
Our work is designed to deliver measurable improvements, including increased capacity, shorter turnaround times, better use of staff and equipment, reduced cost and greater resilience.
Just as importantly, we give organisations the evidence to determine where investment is genuinely needed — and where it isn't.
Start with operational reality.
We start with the operational reality rather than a predetermined solution.
That means understanding the data, observing how the service actually operates, engaging the people delivering it and modelling the impact of different options before recommending change.
Where required, we remain involved through implementation to ensure that the proposed benefits become delivered benefits.
Evidence from operational improvement.
Operational evidence will sit here.
The approved Lifecycle project and verified performance outcomes can be inserted here.
Where could your diagnostic service perform better?
Whether the issue is capacity, cost, turnaround time, workflow, workforce or future demand, we can help identify what is limiting performance and what will make the greatest difference.
Project evidence
Case studies from real diagnostic programmes.
Read the full project evidence here without leaving the Lifecycle website. Open a case study to see the challenge, Lifecycle’s role and the outcomes delivered.
01Leeds Teaching Hospitals TrustCentre for Laboratory Medicine
A process-driven laboratory design shaped by clinical, operational and stakeholder engagement.
Project background
Lifecycle worked with the Building the Leeds Way programme to design the Centre for Laboratory Medicine at the St James’s campus. The engagement began during early West Yorkshire network reviews and continued from pre-feasibility and concept design through collaboration with the appointed architects and build contractors.
Pre-feasibility and decisions
Lifecycle explored configuration options for pathology services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s, assessing consolidation, demand growth and the practical requirements of a new centre of excellence. Clinical and operational reviews, workshops and stakeholder engagement helped secure an optimised laboratory within the available budget.
Design and capacity
The design planned for Blood Sciences volume growth of more than 20% and Microbiology growth of more than 100%, while reducing operational space by more than 5%. Process-based design, workforce analysis and analyser-level capacity reviews aligned the building with future demand.
What Lifecycle delivered
- Flexible layouts able to adapt to changing pathology needs
- Efficient departmental relationships and adjacencies
- Technology-level demand and capacity analysis
- Shared clinical, managerial and administrative spaces
- Consistent engagement across laboratory disciplines and support functions
“Their professional and collaborative approach has brought knowledge, skills and control to a very complex change project, ensuring the confidence of all key stakeholders.”Mike Bacon, BtLW Programme Director, and Emma Storey, BtLW Senior Project Manager