The College has responded to The Health Foundation’s NHS Productivity Commission call for evidence, highlighting pathology’s central role in patient care and proposing 4 practical reforms to unlock efficiency and resilience. 

Modernising pathology services through digital innovation, workforce planning, and better system design is critical to improving productivity and patient outcomes. 

The 4 reforms proposed by the College are:  

• National digital pathology strategy with central funding: evidence shows capital investment in IT infrastructure - such as scanners – as well as investment in workforce capacity to upskill in using digital pathology can lead to significant efficiency gains via remote reporting, faster diagnoses and equitable access. A national strategy is needed with central investment that allows for local adoption to best meet patient needs.  

• Interoperability of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS): upgrading of LIMS to help eliminate delays, duplication and data silos is essential for integration with electronic patient records and prescribing platforms to improve continuity of care and enable innovation.  

• Diagnostic stewardship: embedding pathologist-led oversight will help ensure clinically justified testing, reduce low value requests and manage risks associated with direct-to-consumer testing. Integrating stewardship into digital systems will assist in managing demand and support antimicrobial resistance strategies.  

• Dedicated workforce planning for pathology: fragmented data and lack of visibility of the critical relevance of pathology specialties to future health care plans has led to underinvestment – threatening service resilience. National evidence-based workforce planning that aligns staffing with demand is essential to reduce bottlenecks and improve productivity.  

Without investment in pathology digital infrastructure and innovation, interoperability, stewardship, and workforce planning, the NHS risks continued bottlenecks, delays, and inefficiencies. These reforms offer a real opportunity for faster diagnoses, better patient outcomes and long-term cost savings. 

Read the full response below.