As a customer-focused company, we are constantly hearing that there is a serious shortage of Pathologists, and a survey by the Royal College of Pathologists found only 3% of the 103 NHS histopathology departments that responded had enough staff. Although the numbers of pathologists are increasing, the demand is outstripping the resources which are ‘delaying cancer diagnosis’. This increase in demand is due to new NHS screening programmes and legislative compliance requirements. The study also warns of an approaching retirement crisis, with a quarter of all staff aged 55 or over which puts further pressure on clinical services. There is an urgent call for more funded training places, better IT systems and further investment in pathology services.
A link to the report can be found here: https://www.rcpath.org/resourceLibrary/meeting-pathology-demand—histopathology-workforce-census-2018.html