Innovating the pathology workforce

Histopathologists have key responsibilities across breast, bowel and cervical cancer screening currently, with further programmes expected in the near future.

Histopathology services within Wales are already experiencing increasing demand at the same time as a shortage of trained pathologists:

• 36% of the consultant pathologist workforce in Wales is over the age of 55. Should all staff aged 55 or more retire in the next five years, just 64% of the current workforce would remain in place
• In Wales, 10% of histopathology staff are ‘retired and returned’. This is twice the level of the UK average
• 17% of consultant pathologists in Wales are locums
• Just 3% of services across the UK reported that they had enough staff to meet clinical demand. In Wales, all histopathology departments have vacancies

The need to find innovative solutions to sustain histopathology services is urgent. In this project, Consultant Pathologist Dr Meleri Morgan has worked with the Institute of Biomedical Science and Royal College of Pathologists to develop fast-track training to enable bio-medical scientists to undertake over 50% of histological reporting with limited supervision. The training draws on the histological reporting module of the Advanced Specialist Diploma qualification.

Supported by the National Pathology Programme, in May 2024, the first trainees embarked on the new training under the supervision of Dr Morgan and the team at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, developing their skills and testing the module as a whole. Their training will last 12 months and following successful completion, work will focus on ensuring the training and new role will be considered for inclusion across pathology services in Wales.

If taken up effectively, the resulting increase in histopathology capacity could future proof the timely turnaround of screening results even as demand increases and the bowel screening programme is fully optimised.

Check back for project updates or if you have any questions about this work, get in touch.