Accelerating towards digital: insights from the National Working Group

Histopathology, often described as the hidden powerhouse of the healthcare system, plays a pivotal role in disease diagnosis and is the foundation of directing patient care pathways. The demand for histopathology services is increasing by approximately 4.5% each year,¹ a growth rate that is outpacing the NHS’s capacity to handle caseloads effectively. This surge is driven by an ageing population, rising incidences of complex diseases like cancer, and a shortage of reporting pathologists. Clinical expectations for rapid, accurate diagnostics continue to grow, underscoring the urgency for the NHS to improve its histopathology capabilities. 

In response, the NHS has prioritised the digital transformation of histopathology as a critical step towards meeting the diagnostic demands of modern healthcare. Digital pathology has the potential to revolutionise diagnostic workflows by enabling faster more efficient diagnosis, supporting remote consultations and multidisciplinary meetings, and integrating seamlessly with electronic health records (EHRs).² Moving to a national coordinated digital pathology infrastructure is widely recognised as foundational to addressing diagnostic backlogs, improving workflow efficiency, and delivering timely, clinically actionable results to patients, all within existing budget constraints. Strategic investment and deployment in digital pathology are essential to achieve these goals.

Evidence-based transformation