"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 12:47:47 +0100, "Richard Sterry"
wrote:

T i m wrote:
On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 10:14:38 , "Richard Sterry"
See
http://www.olympus.co.uk/diagnostica...htm?id=ola2500 .

Nice bit of kit Rick ... I wonder what the 10 lab technicians are
doing that it replaced .. ;-(

Fair point, but I have to turn that on its head, and say the kit is
popular
because of problems with staff recruitment of new staff in NHS labs.
Believe
me, far from being hostile towards such automation, the technicians
(well,
actually they are Medical Laboratory Scientists - many are graduates)
absolutely love it.

Fair enough ;-)

They are freed from many mind-numbingly tedious tasks,
real drudgery, and can concentrate on using their knowledge and skills to
do
the real job where a brain is required. Try decapping and sorting 7,000
blood tubes a day, and then archiving them afterwards for cold storage,
and
you'd see my point!

I bet .. point noted ..however .. near me there used to be a salad
packing plant. It employed some imigrant workers and local folk who
probably couldn't (or didn't want to) get better jobs elsewhere. I
would put that sort of task at the same level (of 'involvement') as
your blood test one. Then they brought out the minimum wage and quite
a few lost their (mind numbing) jobs. Ask *them* if they were happy
with such employment 'progress'? It could be a bit different if there
is a genuine shortage of workers .. plus the human error issues etc

Ca la vie. They will be redeployed in the silcone spray can factory packing
boxes.