The College President visited Aberdeen on Thursday 3 November. The first of two visits to Scotland.
Aberdeen’s event was very well attended by trainees, members and Fellows representing a variety of specialities. Issues raised by members included the increased complexity of cases and recruitment and retention issues often the result of the early retirement of experienced and highly skilled consultants caused by the well documented problems within the NHS pension system. Recruitment challenges were raised as being an issue particularly in more remote locations.
College President, Professor Mike Osborn said:
`This was a great meeting, really useful in highlighting local issues affecting pathology generally. Thanks to everyone who took part. The discussion was particularly informative in relation to recruitment issues often due to the remote location of some services. Events like this and the membership engagement tour in general provides a vital opportunity to get the perspectives of members from across the UK allowing us to try to better tailor the work of the College to the needs of its members.
Of particular interest was the way the lab in Aberdeen has been successful in quantifying histopathology workload and consequently better mapping staffing needs which leads to better justification for and use, of resources. This is a model that could be of use to other centres but experience shows it can be difficult to implement due often to the lack of transparency in funding of activities not directly related to clinical care such as teaching. However, as we all know the whole area of workload, staffing and resource allocation in all our specialties is a very complex issue, but systems like this, where they can be implemented successfully, can often be helpful. The College is working very hard in these areas to support members in getting the right resources they need to support service delivery.
Prior to meeting College members, I took a lab tour hosted by Jim Allison, Clinical Director of Laboratory Medicine, who demonstrated three new state of the art laboratories with cutting-edge technology and systems which maximise productivity and workflow. Their systems, technology and organisation, is a fantastic example of a modern efficient lab covering many pathology specialties. It demonstrates what can be achieved with the right investment in infrastructure and staff and with the right leadership.’
Your College, Your Profession, Member Engagement Tour – Dates and locations
This event was one of a series taking part across the UK. By the end of 2022 eight events will have been held and all four UK nations visited at least once.
The events aim to build on the commitment to place you, our members, at the centre of everything the College does. During December events will take place in Belfast, Norwich and Bodelwyddan in North Wales.
To book onto one of these visit the event booking page. Two further live events will be held in January 2023 in Swansea and Manchester. These are bookable via this link (scroll to the bottom of the calendar and click on 2023).
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