National Pathology Year – November Blood Counts

Events and activities across the country have helped celebrate National Pathology Year, and reinforced the critical role played by the pathology services. November’s theme is Blood Counts, and of all the monthly themes, is probably the one that for many people resonates most.

Patients requiring blood are often on the operating table following an accident or invasive surgery. Survival depends on a number of critical activities falling into place, including the efficient transportation of blood or tissue from the blood bank to treating doctors.

Blood couriers have to be the very best in the logistics business. Every second counts, and time and road conditions often conspire to test even the most experienced driver.

At CitySprint Healthcare, blood transportation is an area in which we take great pride. Our work is diverse, and often requires enormous flexibility. The type of emergency transfusion delivery mentioned above is obviously challenging. We are also increasingly being asked to deliver blood supplies overseas, to places such as Gibraltar, where the logistics become even more complex.

We’re also extremely proud of our work for organisations such as the Anthony Nolan charity, where what we deliver is critical. We help transport the collected blood that would go to waste, take it to the bank and transport it on to the hospitals where patients need it.

When this work is combined with our routine pathology logistics, it’s easy to see why blood is very much at the heart of our healthcare business. For us, November’s Blood Count theme encapsulates the importance of our work and why everyone in the healthcare team feels they are playing a role in the health of the country.

Andy Turner
Healthcare Director

The modernisation of pathology services – what's next?

It’s been six years since Lord Carter of Coles carried out an independent review of NHS Pathology Services citing, among other things, a need for increased use of digital technology – including end-to-end management of specimen samples to improve safety and security for patients.

In the subsequent years the age of austerity has hit hard and the NHS is undergoing major reform, the greatest since its inception in 1948. The challenging fiscal environment is driving the need for £500m in savings and as such service reorganisation in pathology is taking place up and down the country.

As the Year of Pathology continues so does our focus in this key area of our business and so the CitySprint Healthcare team are heading to an afternoon of topical debate about what the future of pathology could look like.   

Hosted by the HSJ, ‘Pathology: Fit for Today, Fit for Future’ will discuss an array of topics including: drivers for change; the role of the private sector; what new challenges we face and the future of services in pathology. We’ll be actively involved in the debate contributing our learning’s; such as how we work with our healthcare clients and what insight we can offer from other parts of our business. 

Being involved in events such as these is important to us. As we continue to grow our Healthcare offering – we now work alongside some 20 NHS trusts and organisations - we must look for solutions that help our clients navigate change and meet stringent QIPP targets.

Technology is one part of pathology service redesign that can offer cost savings. PathTrak is designed to provide greater security in pathology transportation and is already in practice demonstrating cost efficiencies at NHS Trusts in the UK.

We look forward to the upcoming event and hearing what Lord Carter has to say six years on – we’ll report back our thoughts.  

Andy Turner
Director of Healthcare