Peninsula Pathology Network newsletter
The latest updates for pathology services in the South West
December 2024
Welcome
It's been a little while since our last newsletter, and as we approach Christmas, this is an opportunity to look back at some good news stories from across the year.
Our programme on workforce development and the work of the Network Trainers has been well-received, as have the careers events we've been holding around the peninsula to encourage the next generation of healthcare scientists.
We welcomed Wayne Thomas as the Network Clinical Director — he'll introduce himself later — and I would also like to thank the Pathology Service Managers from the five sites in our area, who form our Senior Leadership Team and help guide our direction.
Transforming pathology services remains a high priority for NHS England, through the networks that have been established. It's been echoed in Lord Darzi's report for the new government on the NHS, which recognises the vital role of diagnostics and calls for technological solutions to help unlock greater productivity. These are challenges I am confident we can rise to within the peninsula, and you can read the response from the Institute of Biomedical Science here.
From myself and the team, I would like to express our gratitude to all staff working in pathology services across the peninsula. We appreciate your hard work and commitment, and wish you a peaceful Christmas.
Meet the network Clinical Director, Wayne Thomas
I'm a Cornishman and grew up in Wadebridge. I trained in Medicine at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London. As soon as I could, I returned to the Southwest.
I've been a Consultant Haematologist now for 20 years, with 18 of those in Plymouth. I do a lot of student teaching here; I'm both a pathway lead for the school and an Honorary Associate Professor.
My clinical and laboratory haematology work mainly focuses on non-malignant Haematology. I've taken on and enjoyed many clinical and laboratory management roles over the years including Service line lead and Care group director.
My research is primarily on the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of iron deficiency and its management. I am also an active researcher in haemolytic anaemias. Outside of work I'm an astronomer and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society!
Event showcases diagnostic careers
We've held several well-attended careers events for young people over the summer and autumn in Exeter, Plymouth, Barnstaple and Torbay.
Hundreds of young people and their families have joined us to hear about the many and varied career opportunities in healthcare diagnostics.
The sessions have featured talks and lively exhibitions featuring many career opportunities on offer, such as radiography, sonography, echocardiography, pathology and clinical sciences.
In Plymouth in July, we welcomed a group of actors from City College who brought to life the 'behind-the-scenes' life-saving nature of these roles.
Attendees were able to talk to biomedical scientists about their role and career. We were delighted to also be joined by representatives from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, University of Exeter, and University of Plymouth.
These events are a great opportunity to widen participation by engaging with under-represented communities. The team would welcome any new ideas on how we can improve equity and inclusion — please email if you have any suggestions.
We recognise that being in an unfamiliar setting, engaging with professionals in uniform and crowded environments can be overwhelming for students at a potentially stressful stage of life. We created clay models and artwork to help make attendees feel at ease and spark conversations. We also had break-out rooms, 'cellfie' stations and activities for younger siblings who came along.
Workforce update
Retention of Support Workers
We have set up a group, including our Network Trainers, to provide a framework of development and training for support workers. This could include many areas, such as biomedical science, quality, IT, digital, leadership and many more.
We are hoping this will enable consistent and equitable access to service-related development across the network. If you are aware of any training/courses or other CPD which could be included in our framework, please drop us an email to let us know.
IBMS Registration Portfolio
There are regular MS Teams sessions provided by the Peninsula Network Trainers to support the knowledge base for the registration portfolio from the network and regionally too. If you are not aware of these, contact Louise Christophers at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, who is leading the work.
IBMS Specialist Portfolio
The Peninsula Pathology and West of England Pathology Networks have been successful in gaining £100k towards the IBMS Specialist Portfolio project.
So far, we have set up groups for the main pathology disciplines (Infection Sciences, Cellular Pathology and Blood Sciences) led by some of our pathology network trainers. These groups will perform a gap analysis of the old portfolio against the new modular portfolios, and set up banks of questions for use across the South West.
In addition, the IBMS-funded stage of the project will be producing resources for training on a web-based platform, fully accessible to pathology staff completing their specialist portfolio.
We are always on the look out for registration portfolio verifiers and specialist portfolio examiners, so please let us know if you already are one or would like to become one.
Programme updates
Service sustainability
Services like histopathology continue to need more focus in the short-term, as well as their sustainability being addressed for the longer-term. This is being picked up by a monthly Sustainability and Improvement Steering Group, which includes clinical representation from all trusts.
For clinical infection services, a medical training programme is agreed and is being implemented, which will create long-term workforce sustainability for the clinical teams.
The network is investigating setting up a Shared Insourced Reporting Programme for reporting by existing staff instead of using outsourcing companies. This would involve creating a common renumeration package for use across the peninsula, and be managed by the network along similar lines to scheme which has been implemented by our corresponding peninsula imaging network PenRAD.
Digital programme
Digital pathology in Plymouth will go fully live in January, with Devon and Torbay to follow as soon as possible. Cornwall will go live once the integration work with their new LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) is completed, and we are prioritising this work.
Torbay has now gone live with the Devon EPIC Beaker LIMS, with a huge amount of effort and support from Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The business case for Plymouth to join the Devon-wide EPIC is in the final stages of approval, and communications will follow with opportunities to engage in its delivery.
Cornwall is continuing with its LIMS programme to deliver Cirdan ULTRA and is planning to go live in March 2025. At the same time, the trust is continuing to roll out its new EPR solution. Integration between Devon and Cornwall remains a priority.
ICE order communications system (Integrated Clinical Environment) has been live in Torbay for a few months now, enabling requests and test results to be delivered electronically. This also means that results can now be viewed by users across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, regardless of where the order has been placed in the peninsula.
Clinical effectiveness
An ICB-led programme is being developed to support ongoing clinical effectiveness projects, where changes to pathology requesting can influence or change patient pathways. This is a major opportunity for our teams to develop and support system-level improvement with appropriate investment in pathology where required.
Regional pathology effectiveness event
Some of the peninsula's trusts were represented at the NHS England South West Regional Pathology Effectiveness Event on 8 May in Taunton.
Leonie Wheeldon, Consultant Biomedical Scientist Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust spoke about Rapid On-Site Evaluation (ROSE) and the two key areas that it addresses: having sufficient diagnostic material for all the tests required, and appropriate and optimal triage of the specimen.
Sarah Bailey, Associate Professor of Primary Care Diagnostics at University of Exeter, shared her findings from a study on developing and implementing age- and sex-specific thresholds for platelet counts for cancer detection in primary care.
Jo Walsh, Pathology Optimisation Project Lead at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, spoke about Indexor and the use of drones at Royal Cornwall Hospital. Indexor is a plastic-free transport solution, that monitors samples throughout their journey to the laboratory. Drones have been trialled in Cornwall to help reach rural areas of Cornwall.
> Read more in this case study
IBMS awards open for 2025
The IBMS Awards are now open for 2025, and we'd be happy to support any proposed nominations in the peninsula (email us). The closing date is 17 January and you can find more details here.
Well done to Leonie Wheeldon, who was awarded The Institute of Biomedical Scientists (IBMS) Biomedical Scientist of the Year award this year.
Leonie is a Consultant Biomedical Scientist at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and has dedicated herself to the training of healthcare professionals in various specialties, enhancing skills locally and nationally, particularly in Rapid On-site Evaluation (ROSE).
Leonie is also one of the few to attain the IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma in Diagnostic Cytopathology.
Congratulations too to Louise Jefferies, the network's Workforce Programme Lead, who was a finalist at the South West Healthcare Science Awards.
The awards shine a spotlight on individuals and teams whose dedication and ingenuity have made a profound impact in the field. Louise was a finalist for the Educational Leadership Award which recognised healthcare scientists who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in education and training, contributing to the development and mentorship of the next generation of healthcare science professionals.
