We also have a focus on patient safety. It is now over a year since the College’s Patient Safety Steering Group was established, turning our 2024–2029 Patient Safety and Quality Strategy into practical reality; we have an update on its progress to date. Dr Trystan Griffiths and team have carried out work reviewing the management of HBcAb-positive patients on immunosuppressive therapy, which revealed gaps in long-term monitoring and a number of important learning points that will be useful for services to consider. In addition, we continue our series of patient perspectives on pathology with reflections from Dr Patricia Wilkie OBE, advisory board member of Lab Tests Online, around the patient experience of being faced with test results, and the importance of good communication.

The unprecedented heat of this summer served as a reminder that sustainability must remain high on healthcare’s agenda. Dr John Tadross – who, with his colleagues at Cambridge University Hospitals Histopathology and East Genomics, won the Team Award for Sustainability at the RCPath Achievement Awards 2026 – explains the team’s innovative sustainability initiative. This has improved access to whole-genome sequencing for patients at remote and referring hospitals by allowing samples to be collected and shipped alongside other routine pathology samples: the team has made their protocol available online to all.

November always brings 2 of the highlights of the College calendar: National Pathology Week and International Pathology Day. This year, National Pathology Week runs from 2–8 November, with the theme ‘Welcome to the Lab’ – the College and the Pathology Alliance have lots planned. Read also about the programme for International Pathology Day, exploring ‘Pathology in an era of personalised medicine’ with keynote speaker Professor Ahmad Abou Tayoun, Chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Genomics. Staying with International, Dr Stephanie Thomas has a fascinating account of her experience as a medical microbiologist volunteering to provide healthcare to communities in rural Namibia.

Thanks to the Bulletin’s Trainee Section Editor, Dr Ryan Clark, we have a number of articles for trainees. Dr Sarah Lower, RCPath Histopathology Chief Examiner, has put together a useful guide to the Histopathology Part 2 examination, and we introduce the Trainee Advisory Committee Chair, Dr Agnieszka Jakubowska. Dr Hasan Ismahel writes about autopsy and cardiac amyloidosis, and how such a finding might help living relatives. The Pathology Portal has turned 4 years old and continues to experience growth; Dr Joy Staniforth explains the opportunities and rewards of helping to create Pathology Portal resources for the wider pathology community. Dr Eduardo Da Silva Benta reviews Cibas and Ducatman’s Cytology – Diagnostic Principles and Clinical Correlates, and Dr Kristoff Mariafoldy reviews Diagnostic Pathology – Breast, 4th edition.

Recently, I had the great privilege of co-judging the College’s 2 essay competitions, which consistently attract many high-quality entries. This year’s Hugh Platt Foundation Doctor essay prize was won by Dr Grace Gilmour of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and the Paula Domizio Undergraduate essay prize went to Chloe Edwards, a medical student at the University of Cambridge. For the first time ever, on account of the very high standard, it was also decided to award joint second place in the Paula Domizio prize, to Tarun Mathew Doss and Josiah Wilson. Tarun is studying medicine at the University of Manchester, and Josiah is a medical student at the University of Liverpool. Many congratulations to them all and we very much hope to see them join our ranks as pathologists in the future!

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