From robots storing and testing vital blood samples to hundreds of expert scientists examining all kinds of body part and bodily fluid, the state-of-the-art pathology lab at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead plays an essential role keeping the health service moving.
Anyone in South Tyneside, Gateshead or Sunderland will see the blood tests taken by their GP sent here, while cervical and bowel cancer screening samples can arrive from anywhere in the North East or Yorkshire.
Tracey Chrystal manages the pathology lab in Gateshead. She's been in the job just over two years - she was hired in a "baptism of fire" just days before the first national Covid lockdown, when the ability to test for lethal diseases was as vital as ever.
