The Royal College of Pathologists welcomes the Government’s National Cancer Plan, published today.
Initially responding to the scheduled publication of the plan, Professor Adrian Bateman, Chair of RCPath Cellular Pathology Specialty Advisory Committee said:
“This bold and ambitious plan has the potential to bring real benefits to patients. Pathologists are vital to the timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer. They are at the forefront of research to develop precise, tailored diagnostics and treatments, such as cancer vaccines, immunotherapies and liquid biopsies, speeding up targeted treatments for individual patients.
Without a sustainable diagnostic pathology workforce, patients will not receive the diagnosis they need, delaying decisions about their treatment, and leading to poorer outcomes. Pathology can best support the priorities for the National Cancer Plan if there is improved investment – in workforce, IT, digital capability, and the laboratories we work in.”
Cancer diagnosis, treatment and monitoring rely on pathologists to interpret, analyse and integrate results to produce a complete diagnostic report, that provides the basis of a treatment plan, undertaken by other specialist doctors.
Diagnostic pathology services continue to face deep-rooted workforce shortages. With demand for pathology diagnostic services increasingly rising, this issue will need to be urgently addressed to realise the ambitions of the Government’s Cancer Plan.
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