Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the Pathology: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report, published by the NHS in September 2021; and in particular, the finding that 97 per cent of histopathology departments do not have staff to meet clinical demand.

It is the responsibility of NHS England and the wider health system to take steps to adopt and implement recommendations from the Pathology: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report. NHS England committed to consolidating pathology services in England by developing 29 ‘hub and spoke’ networks, with the report identifying several models of these networks that are working well across England.

In January 2023, Health Education England advertised histopathology clinical scientist posts to commence in September 2023 as part of the Scientist Training Programme, a national postgraduate training programme located in hospitals and health services throughout England.