The College is exploring how to roll out digital, informatics and AI-led pathology with its new Digital Strategy Board. The new Board and the British Society for Haematology have collaborated to support the adoption of digital pathology in haematology, with the Digital Haematology Task Force.

The College has established a new Digital Strategy Board, which will operate according to 2 core principles. Firstly, digital, informatics and AI are now central to the future of pathology services. Secondly, no individual organisation can deliver the full breadth of expertise or infrastructure alone; collaboration across committees and partners is essential.

Key aims of the Board are to:

• share progress across committees
• identify cross-cutting issues
• reduce duplication
• provide coordinated strategic voice for the College on digital matters
• support upward influence with NHS England, DHSC and government.

The Board is comprised of representatives from the College’s Informatics Committee and Digital Pathology Subcommittee, and from the British Society for Haematology’s (BSH) Digital Haematology Task Force and LabMedUK’s AI/Informatics Special Interest Group.

The Board’s first meeting was held in November 2025, where the purpose and framing of the Board were identified and the initial discussions on key areas were started.

Context and risks

A significant section of the meeting covered the wider context of digital infrastructure and market forces. Key factors included the following.

• Cloud vendors (AWS, Microsoft, Google) increasingly underpin large research datasets (e.g. UK Biobank) and may become de facto infrastructure providers for the NHS.
• Concerns were raised about monopolisation and NHS bodies not fully understanding long-term lock-in or cost implications.
• UK research bodies can absorb large cloud costs; NHS laboratories cannot. Wider centralisation risks leaving service-level innovation unaffordable.

The Board recognised the need for proactive engagement with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure the profession’s voice is heard early.

Educations, exams and workforce

Several members highlighted the need to modernise digital and AI capability in relation to pathology education and exams. There was widespread agreement that digital images should eventually be used in microscopy components of College exams, but the Board recognised that multiple obstacles to successful delivery exist.

Large image sizes, reliability of remote exam providers and test-centre infrastructure all pose significant limitations that need to be addressed. A potential hybrid period may be required to ensure fairness for trainees in non-digital departments. The Board recognised that it can help shape solutions, but exam delivery rests with the College Learning Directorate and the GMC.

There are also a variety of skills and training issues to resolve. AI literacy varies widely across the workforce, so there is a need for standalone courses and training pathways while GMC curricular updates remain slow. The Board has the potential to advise on educational content, signpost resources and drive consistency across specialties.

The Board discussed the value of bringing wider membership from pathology and healthcare, including such potential members as the Institute of Biomedical Science and NHS England. The possibility of industry partners was also floated, although there is a need to avoid biasing towards particular companies – umbrella bodies such as BIVDA were considered. Other pathology specialties, like cytology, paediatric pathology and neuropathology, may eventually need representation, but the group agreed to start focused and expand gradually. The Board has also discussed hosting a College-wide Digital & AI Scientific Meeting in 2026.

An example of the type of collaboration that the College envisages is already shaping up with the BSH Digital Haematology Task Force, which held its inaugural meeting in October 2025.

Established under the BSH Laboratory Special Interest Group, the Task Force will also contribute directly to the College Digital Strategy Board. This is viewed as a positive step towards bringing the BSH and the College closer together on key areas of shared interest to haematologists, particularly in relation to laboratory practice.

The Task Force has been created to support the safe, evidence-based adoption of digital pathology in haematology across the UK. Its specific aims are to:

• ascertain the use of digital haematology in the UK
• evaluate the available platforms and appraise the evidence
• develop national guidelines on adoption of the technology
• further the evidence base for digital haematology
• explore expanded use of digital pathology for education, including examinations.

This work will involve close collaboration with External Quality Assurance providers and industry partners, where required, and will require regular review and updating as technologies continue to evolve rapidly.

A central focus of the Task Force will be the critical appraisal of the evidence base underpinning digital haematology, including the validation of AI tools, and the development of national guidance to support adoption into routine practice. Where evidence is limited, particularly in relation to bone marrow aspirate digitisation, strategies to advance research and data generation will be explored.

Haematology now has a timely opportunity to follow histopathology into a new era of digital practice. The thoughtful adoption of digital pathology and AI has the potential to transform diagnostic workflows, improve access and consistency, and allow technology to support increasingly complex laboratory demands. Further developments and guidance from the Task Force will be shared in due course.

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