Hub FAQs

The hub is located at Friars Bridge Court, 41 – 43 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NZ. The building is situated at the northern end of Blackfriars Road in Southwark with sweeping views across London and the Thames.

With almost 10,000 square metres across 10 floors dedicated to the future of pathology, the building brings cutting-edge instrumentation, technology and innovation together under one roof and offers a modern, spacious work environment.

It will house infection, tissue and blood sciences, as well as specialist services such as toxicology and immunology. Around 25 million tests per year (96,000 a day) will be conducted in the core blood sciences lab alone, with approximately 30,000 blood tubes processed daily and one million microbiology tests performed annually.

There will also be spaces for community meetings, privacy areas, open-plan and shared office space, and senior leadership team offices.

Staff will benefit from:

• Open areas with easy flow and navigation throughout
• Large windows and natural light on every floor
• Spacious breakout areas on both ground and lower ground levels, including booth, bar and table seating, meal preparation area and lounge seating
• 800 lockers
• Cycle storage
• Shower facilities
• Cold water stations (all floors)
• Multi-faith room

As well as delivering pathology services, Synnovis is responsible for transforming the Trusts’ existing hospital-based services into a world-leading, integrated ‘hub and spoke’ pathology network by 2025.

The transformation programme is believed to be one of, if not the, largest in UK healthcare history. It responds to the ambitions set out in the NHS Long-Term Plan, which will not only help to improve the quality of patient care but will also see the NHS save millions of pounds on pathology testing services across the UK.

The hub is integral to this programme. It is one of the largest, purpose-built pathology laboratories in the UK, capable of processing around 70 per cent of all pathology activity currently conducted by Synnovis (including all primary care work).

The hub and spoke model will work by separating out urgent from non-urgent tests to dramatically improve testing turnaround times and patient care. It will also free up valuable hospital estate to be used by the NHS for other patient services.

The hub will meet the needs of modern-day healthcare services, capitalising on the latest technology, equipment and systems. It will allow urgent and routine tests to be turned around more quickly. This will enable faster clinical decisions regarding care, a reduction in overnight hospital admissions, quicker discharge and speedier transitions to the appropriate clinical pathway. The fast-tracking of urgent GP requests will also enable more conditions to be managed within the community.

Through cutting-edge digital pathology technology, clinicians will be able to view blood and tissue samples online via high-resolution monitors, without the need for microscopes. Digitising samples increases efficiency and speeds up patient diagnosis by reducing the logistics and handling risks.

The hub laboratory will release more than 6,000 square metres of NHS real estate – the equivalent of more than 150 operating theatres – which can then be used by Synnovis’ partners for other important patient services.

The opportunity to work in one of the most scientifically advanced pathology centres in the world will foster collaboration across Synnovis and create an environment where best practice from different specialisms can easily be shared. Colleagues based at any Synnovis site will be encouraged to develop multi-disciplinary skills and undertake multi-system training, broadening the career pathways available to them.

You can read more about the benefits of the new pathology partnership in our overview document.

Here is a summary of the distances from the hospital sites to the hub:

*All journey times are approximate and taken from the TfL website. Please note that public transport is subject to change and various route options may exist.

The carefully planned migration of services to the hub will begin in April 2024, starting with blood sciences, immunology, virology and red cell services, quality and Central Specimen Reception. This is part of a phased programme to ensure service continuity and minimal disruption.

Synnovis has planned meticulously to ensure the effective ongoing delivery of testing and diagnostic services in parallel with transformation activities.

The transfer of services to the hub is expected to be complete by 2025.

The building was chosen following an extensive review of potentially suitable sites across central London.

Friars Bridge Court was identified as the optimal location when considering distance from the various NHS organisations it will serve, as well as the excellent public transport links that surround it.

Another major consideration was the building’s size, layout and infrastructure, which will enable it to be converted to meet the partnership’s future needs. These needs include weight-bearing floors capable of hosting a multitude of specialist laboratory equipment.

Working with its NHS partners, Synnovis is committed to minimising disruption and inconvenience, and to being a positive presence within the hub locality and improving the lives of people living in south east London.

The new hub building has been designed to achieve Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methos (BREEAM) ‘Excellent’ standards, which measure performance against criteria such as energy management and efficiency, sustainable design and materials.

The hub’s energy comes from renewable-backed sources and will achieve a 47% reduction in CO2 emissions. Substantial CO2 emission savings are also being delivered following Synnovis’ move to a greener logistics provider, which uses electric vehicles and bikes.

More than 85% of materials used during the construction of the hub were recycled, saving more than 500 tonnes from going to waste, while the incorporation of changing rooms and cycle rack spaces will encourage healthy and sustainable travel.

SYNLAB and other pathology providers have demonstrated that the hub-and-spoke network model results in faster testing turnaround times overall, which is why NHS networks across the country are adopting this approach.

SYNLAB already has a proven track record of supporting GPs and other healthcare providers at distance, yet still improve testing turnaround times. Where necessary, Essential Service Laboratories can be used to stabilise samples locally before sending them for testing.