The safest way to travel

28 Mar 2019, 3:59 p.m.

Illustration of the sample chutes at GOSH

Did you know that across the hospital, within the walls, floors and corridors, patient blood samples whizz from our wards to the labs, via the chute, where they’re processed and used for diagnostics?

In the blink of an eye, every lab sample is propelled through a network of tubes. In a hospital the size of GOSH, making good time means better medicine, and the chute is an important part of a complex chain that gives our doctors timely lab results they need to make decisions about our patients.

The clock starts ticking as soon as a sample is drawn, and our lab team relies on every ward getting samples to them as quickly as possible. The chute system has a complete set of checks and balances – sensing where containers are needed and sending them. It also controls the airflow to slow down the containers for a soft landing at their destination.

World-first same-day metagenomics for children can detect hidden infections in intensive care

GOSH has successfully implemented a pioneering same-day respiratory metagenomics testing service for children in intensive care, helping clinicians identify infections more quickly and make better-informed treatment decision

Celebrating the gift of organ donation

During Organ Donation Week 2026, GOSH hosted its first Donor Family Tea Party, bringing together families whose children gave the extraordinary gift of life through organ donation.

Road closure: Great Ormond Street

There will be a partial closure of Great Ormond Street between 4am on Wednesday 21 and 10pm on Thursday 22 October.

GOSH families at the heart of major £6m project to improve support for children with complex needs

Children, young people and families from GOSH will help shape a major new research programme