This summer we celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the founding of the Royal College of Pathologists. At 3pm on 21
June 1962, 300 of the first members came together to formalise a profession
which has subsequently made a huge impact on the quality of NHS services.
Fifty years later, pathology makes up
around 4% of NHS spending, and is involved in up to 80% of all decisions
affecting diagnosis. If you’re ill, or having your health checked, the chances
are it will involve pathology.
The scale of NHS pathology means it is very
much at the forefront of the NHS modernisation agenda, and the efforts underway
to improve productivity.
Many people outside of the logistics
business are surprised to hear how involved CitySprint are in this important
NHS reconfiguration and modernisation project. This is because pathology
transportation is usually behind the scenes, and only really comes to people’s attention
when things go wrong.
It’s said a chain is only as strong as its
weakest link. Stellar laboratory services are useless if samples go missing,
are handled inappropriately or lack the watertight audit trail to ensure
patient safety. Unfortunately, the quality of NHS pathology has been let down
over the years by poorly managed transportation.
Where CitySprint Healthcare has been able to make a difference
is by applying our experience and learning from other parts of our business where
we transport high value and important cargo. Surely pathology samples should be
handled in the same way to improve patient care through fast, efficient diagnosis. Importantly, secure
transportation prevents expensive re-bleeds and safeguards irreplaceable
biopsies.
Track and trace technology, real time
digital monitoring, electronic audit trails. These are the sorts of things that
I would expect to support pathology logistics if my family or I were involved.
And that’s what is provided by our PathTrak system, which is increasingly being
taken up by the NHS.
We’re proud of our contribution to the modernisation
of pathology agenda, which contributes to patient safety, and is helping the
NHS save money. We wish the Royal College of Pathologists a Happy Birthday, and
look forward to contributing to the evolution of world leading NHS pathology
over the coming years.
Andy Turner
CitySprint Healthcare Director
