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.

Reflecting on rare disease day 2025

Rare Disease Day is an international event which takes place annually on the last day of February. The date is chosen because in leap years it is February 29, the rarest date!

Surgeons mark 40 years since first conjoined twins separation

Two surgeons who led the first ever separation of conjoined twins at Great Ormond Street Hospital forty years ago have been reunited with their patient.

First-of-its-kind study will assess psychological impact of sudden cardiac death on children

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and University College London (UCL) will lead a pioneering study with the hope of revealing more about how best to help children who have experienced an unexpected and often traumatic loss in the family.

Incredible images showcase moments of discovery at GOSH

A surprising floral image helping researchers study Hirschsprung disease, a rare bowel disease in children, has been crowned the winner of the annual National Institute for Health and Care Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Cent