A LAGMORE man is playing a leading role in processing Covid-19 tests for global healthcare giants Randox.
Joe Clifford studied Health Physiology at Ulster University before arriving at Randox for a placement year. He then retracted from his PhD and took up a graduate Reporting Scientist role in Randox Clinical Laboratory Services (CLS), based on the Randalstown Road in Antrim.
In May Randox Senior Management promoted him to Deputy Manager of the Covid Reporting Team and then in August, he became the Covid Reporting Manager. At just 22-years-old, Joe is the youngest member of the Covid Management team.
Joe’s journey to manager began back in March as the Covid-19 pandemic truly arrived with Randox playing a key role in the UK’s National Testing Programme ever since.
“I started this role two or three weeks before Covid kicked off in the UK and then began reporting the results within the reporting team,” he explained.
“We had been watching what was happening across the world so we knew we had to devise some form of testing mechanism
“We got accepted for the government grant so we had to expand. We built the largest facility we have ever had which employs 700 staff.
“From then to now we have developed a team of reporters and processes that have increased our reported results from 100-200 per day to just under 90,000 now.
“When we receive Covid tests, we extract the virus from the solution inside the tube. The Reporting Team then take over to analyse the data from machines to determine whether a patient is positive or negative.
TESTING: Joe Clifford at work in Randox
“The Lab Managers rely heavily on the reporting team for KPI Trending of the labs performance and for monitoring the samples flow within the lab system.”
Despite the obvious pressures of the pandemic, Joe says he and his team are enjoying the work that they do.
“It might sound strange to hear but we are actually enjoying the work,” he added. “We have a lot of guidance from senior management and we have highly-skilled people working here.
“A typical day would be coming in quite early in the morning to see how we process the results which is reported from midnight to midnight. It is a 24-hour turn around time to process any samples we receive each day.
“We hope we can process 100,000 in the near future which will prove our hard work in terms of numbers. We process all testing in Northern Ireland. Testing involves a lot of man hours and it is a rigorous process but we believe in our ability.”
Away from his busy working life, Joe plays hurling and Gaelic football for newly-formed East Belfast GAA club. As for the future, he isn’t looking too far ahead.
“Judging by the numbers we are receiving every day, Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. I am not looking too far ahead into the future in terms of my career because of the vital work that we do now.”
