Evolution is the solution to challenges faced across the pathology landscape

In its latest survey, Meeting Pathology Demand – Histopathology Workforce Census 2018, The Royal College of Pathologists highlighted the fact that only 3% of histopathology departments said they had enough staff to meet clinical demand. Added to these pressures, there is an approaching retirement crisis – a quarter of all histopathologists are aged 55 or over, and training places remain unfilled. The College recognises that the cost of staff shortages is not just financial; for patients, it can mean worrying delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Against this backdrop, outsourced services – and the frameworks on offer to allow access to these services – must evolve to meet the needs of an increasingly challenging diagnostics landscape. This is while ensuring they improve quality, patient safety and efficiency, as stated in Lord Carter’s first reports, Independent Review of NHS Pathology Services in England, published in 2006 and 2008.

Pathology services are facing several challenges while having to meet escalating demand. Every year the NHS carries out over 500 million biochemistry and 130 million haematology tests; over 50 million microbiology requests are processed; over 13 million histopathology slides and four million cytology slides are examined.¹ Outsourcing can lead to an improvement of services by speeding up the processing of tests and improving efficiency. If pathology laboratory managers have access to information about tests offered elsewhere, particularly their cost and their turnaround times, then they could make informed decisions on whether it would be more efficient to outsource certain testing, providing a better outcome for patients.