This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Cancer pathology services under strain, charity cautions
Cancer Research UK has issued a report warning that pathology department in NHS hospitals around the UK are struggling to cope with rising requests for cancer tests.
The charity outlined that without more staff to meet patient demand, long waits for test results could become the norm. The report highlighted that one in two people will have cancer at some point, and getting it diagnosed early is vital.
The report outlined a number of issues, including: year on year, requests for pathology services have been increasing, but staffing levels are not increasing fast enough to keep up; of 36 laboratories that responded to a survey about staffing, 20 had at least one (full-time equivalent) vacancy among consultant staff; of these 20 laboratories, 13 had had these vacancies for six months or longer; and a significant chunk of the workforce is nearing retirement age and there are not enough new graduates to fill the void.
Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez, a Cancer Research UK pathology expert, said: "We need to act now before this situation gets worse. It's vital that patients are diagnosed at an early stage when treatment is more likely to be successful and pathology plays a crucial role in this.
"The number of cancer cases diagnosed each year is set to rise and the already stretched pathology services won't cope unless we ensure more people are trained and employed in pathology. We must also make sure that existing staff have the support they need to do their job."
Dr Suzy Lishman, president of the Royal College of Pathologists, said: "Having the right staff with the right skills will make sure people referred for cancer tests are diagnosed as quickly and accurately as possible."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "Early and fast diagnosis is crucial in improving patient outcomes and experience. Getting pathology test results to patients quickly is a key part of this. That's why we have invested over £2.5 billion on efficient and robust pathology services across the NHS."
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