My first year as College President has been a real honour and privilege. Working closely with College staff, volunteer members and other stakeholders has highlighted the great skill, commitment and dedication that everyone puts in to help the College deliver work that is vital for healthcare, patients and our membership. So, a huge thank you to everyone for your much valued contributions that are so essential.
There has been considerable deterioration in healthcare provision across the UK in recent years. This is deeply concerning and we are determined to ensure that pathology is fully incorporated into future healthcare models. We must cement high levels of professional wellbeing and job satisfaction to support improved patient care and outcomes. Direct and potent engagement with the new government and other stakeholders is one of the most important elements of our strategy for pathology.
Over the last year, we developed and launched our new 5-year strategy, which will be pivotal to our objectives. This strategy is focused on and relevant to both the demands of healthcare and the needs of our membership. Our College continues to do great things in areas such as examinations and assessment, education, national representation, international work and guidelines. However, our renewed focus on workforce and relations with the diagnostic industry is increasingly important and will feed directly into how we function, service delivery, innovation, professional wellbeing and patient care.
We commit to delivering this strategy in the years ahead and ask for your continued involvement in helping us to achieve this.
I am delighted to welcome you to my first annual report as Registrar since I took on this role last November. Like any of the honorary officer (HO) positions within the College, it is a huge honour to have been elected. Each HO has their different remits and the roles are associated with steep learning curves and many hours of dedication.
To use some sport analogies (since we’ve had a summer of sports viewing, including the Men’s Euro 2024, Tour de France, the Olympics and Paralympics), the role of the Registrar is a bit like a ‘sweeper’ (or libero). That is, the Registrar has to be versatile – taking on tasks that crosscut directorates and don’t necessarily fall into a specific pigeonhole, acting as back-up for the President when needed, and helping to ‘glue’ the HO team together by ‘sweeping up’ and providing cover. The Registrar also has the wonderful role of announcing all the new fellows at our twice-yearly ceremonies, which take place in the College building with families and friends seeing loved ones receive their certificates.
In keeping with our mission, the HO team and College staff have seized opportunities presented by external consultations to use our collective voice to influence how decisions are made across a range of pathology issues, from education and training, to regulation, and how to create a sustainable workforce. We have taken up these issues with the new government, lobbying health policymakers with the combined voice of the Pathology Alliance, which remains committed to working with NHS Improvement, to ensure patients have equitable access to high-quality, cost-effective pathology provision wherever they live.
We have responded to consultations on a wide range of issues, including pathology staffing and how the new medical examiner service will interact with the Health Services Safety Investigations Body. All affect the quality of services we can provide to patients.
As well as responding to these external challenges, the HOs have worked with College staff to draw up our new 5-year strategy, which includes how we can work with other stakeholders in diagnostics to ensure the College stays ‘ahead of the curve’ with respect to technological developments and research in healthcare.
Finally, our award-winning Pathology Portal, the online learning resource hosted by NHS England, continues to grow in all specialties, with access being extended to our international members, in line with our increasing international outreach.
Please remember the HOs of the College are volunteers from the membership: as your Registrar, I will endeavour to represent you and your concerns. I look forward to working with you over the next 2 years.
Nurturing excellence in pathology by supporting a diverse and inclusive professional community
Celebrating our new fellows
We were delighted to welcome 268 new fellows to the College and to celebrate their achievements at our New Fellows’ Ceremonies. Our Member Engagement and Support team showcased their journeys to becoming pathologists, what fellowship means to them and what we can do to support them in the next stages of their careers.
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I have been practising pathology since 2014. I was inspired to join the Royal College of Pathologists by members who attended a meeting about the College in my home country, Egypt.
To become a member … is a nice feeling; the feeling of being a part of a family. It's one of the biggest things I have achieved in my life so far.
In terms of my hopes for my time at the College, I’m planning to publish papers, and to volunteer as an examiner.
Dr Nesrin Tolba
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I am a woman of Ghanaian heritage who grew up in Liverpool. I appreciate the College’s collaborative approach to advancing histopathology practices globally. I would enjoy the opportunity to be involved in efforts to advance diagnostic services and practices globally, working with and learning from the experience of colleagues in other countries.
Dr Vanessa Djabatey New fellow specialising in histopathology
Supporting our members with high-quality resources
While the demand on our pathology workforce increases, so too does the need to fill gaps in recruitment. Understanding how we can support our members at this time has become a key focus for the College. The College’s Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) has published several practical guidance documents to help microbiologists streamline service provision and lab processes.
We developed and reviewed 3 comprehensive fetal autopsy guidelines. The voice of bereaved parents and engagement with charities and stakeholders were central to producing these guidelines, and the authors held the narrative of parents’ vulnerabilities and wishes at the heart of the discussions. The guidelines are now referenced by NHS England as the new policy for perinatal post-mortem examinations.
Assisting pathologists through new processes
We collaborated with the General Medical Council and our Specialty Training Committees to develop new specialty-specific guidance (SSG) in preparation for the implementation of the new Portfolio Pathway system, which replaced the Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) in November 2023.
The guidance sets out the evidence that doctors will need to provide to apply for specialist registration. The change in system gives applicants more flexibility to submit evidence that holistically demonstrates their knowledge, skills and experience and how they have achieved the high level capabilities in practice (CiPs) of the relevant curriculum. The College has seen a considerable increase in the number of CESR/Portfolio Pathway applications and the increased flexibility for those applicants who are successful will enable more doctors to apply for NHS consultant posts.
In addition to the SSG, a template has been produced to allow Portfolio Pathway applicants to map their evidence to the relevant curriculum CiPs and describe how they meet them. This will help assessors (our members) to better understand how applicants intended the evidence submitted to be used. We also held webinars to support both current and new Portfolio Pathway assessors in assessing applications received under the new system.
Building national and international networks
We co-hosted a multiprofessional, multispecialty in-person northern symposium with the Institute of Biomedical Science in October 2023 in response to feedback from our members during the Your College, Your Profession member engagement tour. The symposium presented members in the north of England with the opportunity to discuss local issues, share experiences and network with local colleagues. 100 people attended the event from a variety of specialties and professional backgrounds.
We collaborated with our international partners to produce 26 new webinars. These supported the roll out of new pathology curricula in Ghana across a range of specialties, including medical microbiology, chemical pathology and haematology. We signed 2 new Memoranda of Understanding that outline how these partnerships will improve pathology and training standards. In September 2023, we delivered 2 webinars to guide UK employers and international medical graduates (IMGs) on the process of obtaining GMC registration in order to come to the UK to obtain training.
We were awarded a grant under the Global Health Workforce programme (GHWP) to improve the quality of chemical pathology training and service provision in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, in collaboration with the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN), the Ghana College of Physicians of Surgeons (GCPS), the Aga Khan University in Kenya and The Association for Laboratory Medicine. As part of this project, we will provide CPD sessions that will also be available to our chemical pathology members.
This year, we furthered our alliances with hospital teams, as part of the African Research and Innovative Initiative for Sickle cell Education (ARISE) project. ARISE is a staff exchange programme that has enabled an inter-agency and multidisciplinary exchange between researchers, early stage investigators and other relevant staff members of the project partner institutions.
In support of the staff exchange programme, we expanded our collaborations with laboratories, partnering with North Bristol NHS Trust Severn Pathology and Trafford General Hospital under Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. This development has allowed us to host 3 more incoming secondments. These secondments facilitate the exchange of skills and knowledge, offering new perspectives that benefit the secondee, their home hospital and the host hospital. Dr Theresa Otu and Dr Hannah Olawumi shared how the programme benefitted them.
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We had a wonderful experience in Manchester. Our time in the laboratory exposed us to haemoglobinopathy diagnostic facilities that we were not familiar with before now. The clinical experience also gave us the opportunity to see how management of haemoglobinopathy can be patient friendly.
Dr Theresa Otu and Dr Hannah Olawumi
Providing standardised and equitable care
The UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations (UK SMIs) are an important resource for those working in laboratories and are used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and to standardise processes. They help ensure patients receive the same standard of care regardless of the laboratory used.
In October 2023 as part of a collaboration with the Standards Unit at the UK Health Security Agency and UK SMI Steering Committee, our website became the new host for these evidence-based NICE-accredited standards for diagnostic and public health microbiology laboratories
Promoting and funding pathology careers
Our Medical Electives Scheme, which we deliver with several partner specialist societies, continues to fund undergraduate medical and veterinary students to undertake pathology electives and projects, providing essential exposure to pathology early on in careers. We have now funded 5 students, and our first cohorts have finished their electives and projects. Lucie Williamson, who undertook a forensic pathology elective at the University of Glasgow, highlights the benefits of this scheme.
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I have always been interested in a career in forensic pathology and have attended many events run by the Royal College of Pathologists, including the Summer School. Unfortunately, the general medical training curriculum does not contain large amounts of pathology; therefore, I was very keen to pursue an elective in pathology.
I was fortunate to undertake my elective at the University of Glasgow Forensic Medicine Department. This insight into life as a forensic pathologist and the histopathology training path is very valuable to my career and I am grateful that I had this opportunity. I really enjoyed my elective in forensic pathology, and I am very appreciative for the advice and training that I was given to pursue a career in this area.
Once again, I am very grateful for the Royal College of Pathologists and The Pathological Society combined medical elective bursary for allowing me to carry out this elective.
Lucie Williamson
As part of our pathology outreach strategy, the College launched a rolling programme of careers webinars in 2023, showcasing roles across pathology specialties. More than 300 students have attended webinars on 6 specialties so far. Our annual Pathology Summer School remains a hugely successful event, with 70 medical students from around the UK attending the 2-day event. The feedback from students highlights how important this event is with all respondents stating that it had either persuaded them or made them think about a career in pathology.
We awarded 13 Foundation Fellowships to foundation doctors with posts in pathology departments, to support their learning and involvement in their specialties of interest.
Our innovations
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Transforming pathology together through innovation and collaboration
Lobbying for investment and working collaboratively
Artificial intelligence (AI) could change the landscape of diagnostic services in the UK, helping to improve patient outcomes and reduce waiting lists. However, we are fully aware of the challenges and work required to ensure its use across the NHS. We delivered our position statement on the role of AI in cellular pathology, which highlighted the potential of AI to improve laboratory workflow and consistency of diagnosis. We are pushing for its implementation to be clinically lead and for investment in digital pathology and AI, both for technology and training.
We co-chaired a meeting at 10 Downing Street to discuss the role of AI in facilitating rapid and early diagnoses in the NHS and published a joint report with the Royal College of Radiologists. The report focuses on discussions from the meeting and sets out a shared plan of action for the UK government, the NHS and medical royal colleges to ensure patients and the pathology workforce benefit from diagnostic AI.
We have used this report to engage politicians and policymakers. Our Wales Regional Council sought support from the Minister for Health and Social Services for funding of digital pathology across Wales in response to the slow progress on developments around digital pathology and AI. Dr Bernie Croal and Dr Anu Gunavardhan, Chair of the RCPath Wales Regional Council, met Mike Emery (Chief Digital and Innovation Officer for NHS Wales) and Dr Delia Ripley (Wales’ Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for Health) to discuss issues specific to the roll out of digital pathology in Wales and they updated us on the status of digital pathology. With funding secured for the digitisation of pathology services in Wales, including equipment such as scanners, we will be collaborating with them and providing guidance and support.
Action is needed to develop digital pathology in remote areas to ensure patients receive equitable care and the benefits that digital pathology has to offer. Our Scotland Regional Council responded to the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee consultation on remote and rural healthcare. We met Neil Gray MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in Scotland, to update them on the College’s work in this area and discuss how digital pathology can be progressed in Scotland.
Our Northern Ireland Regional Council provided input into the rollout of the encompass project. The project will deliver a single digital care record for anyone who receives health and social care in Northern Ireland, with the aim of improving access to health information for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Our manifesto and priorities for pathology
Ahead of the 2024 general election, we published a manifesto setting out 4 key challenges facing the pathology workforce — challenges the government must act on. These key areas are: 1. investing in workforce for patients; 2. tailoring treatment for patients; 3. harnessing digital pathology for better patient care; and 4. diagnosis closer to patients. The challenge to transform healthcare cannot be underestimated. We will, however, advocate and campaign on your behalf, lend our expertise and join with other voices to bring pathology to the forefront of discussions and planning. Through our manifestos and policy reports on workforce, AI, digital pathology, genomics and point-of-care testing, we have provided clear steps the government could take to address the challenges facing pathology and healthcare.
Following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive, our Northern Ireland Regional Council published their new priorities to focus on areas that are central to the delivery of pathology services. This includes AI, ongoing pathology service transformation and new LIMS roll out.
Optimising healthcare through partnerships
We need to optimise pathology services as healthcare evolves, but we can’t do this on our own. By fostering partnerships and collaborating with stakeholders, kindred organisations and industry, we can bring about change to benefit our members, the wider pathology workforce and, ultimately, patients.
Our first Industry Leaders’ Forum in April 2024 was an opportunity to discuss examples of successful collaboration between pathology and pathology-related industry and put forward ideas for future partnerships. Following the event, we produced a report highlighting key discussion points and setting out areas for strategic collaboration with industry. We are working with industry partners to bring freely accessible educational material to our members and build joint educational initiatives.
How patients interact with healthcare has changed, with greater access to test results and direct-to-consumer testing. Therefore, it is vital that patients understand what the tests are for and how to interpret results. We are focusing on areas where we can engage with patients, such as funding of Lab Tests Online-UK, which provides free advice to patients about the laboratory tests that are used to diagnose, monitor and treat illnesses. Our College representative for Lab Tests Online-UK and our Lay Advisory Group provide professional advice and editorial support to ensure information is accurate.
We are members of a now expanded Pathology Alliance – a group of 10 organisations committed to greater interaction and collaboration with sub-groups set up to cover diagnostic stewardship, workforce and National Pathology Week. By joining forces with other pathology associations, our reach and impact is widened.
Funding pathology research
Our Research Committee launched a new small grant scheme in 2023 to support undergraduate and postgraduate students to develop pathology-related research ideas into viable research projects. New clinical research can improve health outcomes and patient care. With the use of increasingly complex molecular diagnostics and involvement in clinical trials, research literacy among the pathology workforce is important; but funding, particularly in the early stages of careers, is limited. In 2023, we awarded 2 grants and in 2024 we awarded 3.
Creating more accessible learning content
We delivered 17 free, specialty-focused webinars as part of our new focus on providing more CPD-accredited events for our members. The webinars provide updates and insights into the work of the specialties and the recordings are available on our website and the Pathology Portal, offering further resources for members and trainees. Over 2,000 people from 76 countries attended the webinars and the recordings have 1,400 views to date.
Delivering a new workforce strategy
We are developing a new workforce strategy that builds on our work over the last year. During 2023 and 2024 we focused on fostering relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders to aid the sharing of data and information and ensure our workforce efforts are grounded and reflect the needs of our members, the profession and patients. Our workforce stakeholder event was attended by over 50 organisations and the event facilitated a significant shift in how and from where we will source workforce data in the future.
Our new strategy seeks to secure timely and robust data aimed at tackling the workforce crisis that is facing pathology services. Robust workforce data and intelligence for both workforce and workload is fundamental for evidence-based workforce planning. It is therefore more important than ever that we have the best possible insight on workforce.
Our impact
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Working together to bring about better outcomes for more people across the world in ways that are sustainable for our community and the planet
Calling for effective patient care: right test, in the right place, at the right time
As joint secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Diagnostics, we worked with the Royal College of Radiologists to produce the report ‘CDCs Unveiled: Challenges & Triumphs: An Inquiry into Community Diagnostic Centres’ in January 2024. The report followed an inquiry into community diagnostic centres (CDCs). In the report, we call for further funding so CDCs can be established in community-based settings and areas with high levels of deprivation and health inequalities. A national strategy is needed so that patient data and digital tools to support and streamline diagnostic pathways can be integrated into CDCs. While progress against targets have been made, significant challenges persist; not least staffing the centres from an already over-stretched pathology workforce compounded by chronic shortages. The report featured in a Daily Mail article highlighting the issue around visibility of CDCs, both in terms of GP referrals and location in easy-to-reach places.
In January 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) accepted and published the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation for the use of digital pathology in screening programmes – this should make screening for breast, bowel and cervical cancer quicker and more effective under plans to roll out the use of digital images to detect cancer. In 2020, we asked the UK National Screening Committee to consider evidence for using whole slide imaging for examining body tissue samples as part of cancer screening programmes. We were pleased to see the recommendation was accepted and published, allowing roll out across the NHS.
Hearing patient voices
Regulations introducing reforms to the death certification process became statutory on 9 September 2024. The reforms build on the non-statutory system and further improve support for bereaved people and care for patients. As the lead royal college for medical examiners, we have campaigned for years for their implementation. To support the medical examiner and medical examiner officer community, we hosted 2 online events to share information on the reforms. Over 1,400 people attended the events and the recordings have been watched over 1,000 times. To date, we have trained over 3,000 medical examiners and medical examiner officers.
Providing sustainable pathology services
We are supporting our members and the pathology community to work in sustainable ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Our ‘How green is your lab?’ event in December 2023 explored how we can collaborate to improve sustainability. Practical solutions included: narrative reporting in microbiology laboratories, which has been proven to decrease the number of samples sent to the laboratory, and replacing plastic bags with reusable racks to transport specimens. We shared learning in our April issue of the Bulletin, which was dedicated to sustainability initiatives in pathology services, and the effect of climate change on them.
The effect of climate change on disease was the focus of International Pathology Day 2023, which brought together insights from colleagues from around the world. Our global speakers explored how climate change-related increases in tropical diseases are creating pressure on blood transfusion services in India. They highlighted the barrier to laboratories implementing sustainable processes, and they discussed the increases in diseases such as Dengue, malaria and cholera seen during extreme weather events.
Leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance
We partnered with other organisations to call for the development and use of rapid diagnostic technology in a consensus statement coordinated by the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association. This technology will speed up the process of identifying infections and deciding on the most suitable antibiotics for treatment, helping in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). College fellow Professor Angharad Davies reiterated the need to invest in diagnostic services to support prescribing decisions during her talk at the APPG Roundtable ‘The Race Against Resistance’, and at the Infection Management Coalition roundtable at the King’s Fund annual conference.
We published our position statement on AMR focusing on the support and investment needed to tackle this global health threat. Our call for action includes increasing the number of medical microbiology and virology trainee places (both medical and clinical scientists), since the number of trainees will need to double over the next 5 years to meet current demands, the existing shortfall in workforce and expected retirements.
The UK government’s 5-year national action plan to combat AMR aligned with many of the recommendations in our position statement. We are leading the way in many areas of work in the national plan and have forged strong connections with partners around the world through our Memoranda of Understanding and webinar series. This year we delivered a 6-part global webinar series exploring best practice for antimicrobial stewardship in different healthcare settings with 23 speakers from 12 countries worldwide.
Our good practice series paper on the recording of AMR as a cause of death was used as an example of good practice in the House of Lords when Baroness Bennett asked what progress has been made towards introducing the recording of AMR as a cause of death to support surveillance of AMR.
Professor Roberto La Ragione, immediate past Chair of our Veterinary Pathology Specialty Advisory Committee, spoke at the Westminister Health Forum conference on the next steps for tackling AMR. He underlined the need to reduce antibiotic use in animals, highlighting the new tools veterinary microbiologists are researching to achieve this while improving antimicrobial stewardship.
Our new 5-year strategy
Our 5-year plan combines our strategic aims with our core values of teamwork, service and ambition. We must become agile and evolve if we’re to meet the challenges ahead for us and our members. Our new longer-term strategy will provide us with the tools to do this.
We have identified 5 areas of focus that build on the foundations of previous successes and projects. Each area represents strategic objectives that will align our efforts with what matters most to our members and the pathology profession.
1
Lead excellence in pathology practice
We are committed to developing relationships across all 4 UK nations, while advocating for safe, supportive and resourced workplaces by:
Promoting the breadth of opportunities, along with the patient benefits, that a career in pathology and laboratory medicine presents
Using robust data and analysis to provide insights into the pathology workforce and lobby for the action needed to sustain it in the interests of patients
Working with stakeholders to ensure safe, supportive and inclusive workplaces for pathologists
Establishing strong policy positions and act on key priorities for pathology across the 4 UK nations
Developing and maintaining strong relationships with UK politicians, government bodies, public audiences and industry partners
2
Promote the highest standards of pathology education and training
We will support the professional growth and development of the pathology workforce at all stages of their careers and worldwide by:
Keeping curricula, assessments and examinations under review to ensure they are reflective of current best practice
Enabling individuals to progress through training by removing barriers to equity in the journey toward consultant practice
Supporting appropriately qualified international medical graduates to obtain registration to practise in the UK
Providing support and resources for trainees and new consultants
3
Foster a sense of pride and belonging among our members
We will listen to the needs of our members to drive change that will support them in delivering the highest standard of care for their patients by:
Using our members’ insights to develop an engaging and inclusive membership benefit proposition
Providing opportunities for members to network, share best practice and find support to address any challenges they face
Delivering professional development opportunities for members to safeguard their practice for the future
Delivering high-quality resources to support pathology practice
Advocating for pathology and pathologists
4
Be the authoritative and trusted partner for pathology
We will strengthen our position as the leading voice of pathology and build partnerships to share knowledge and best practice by:
Maintaining high standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency in our interactions and communications
Collaborating with partners to gather and share intelligence, providing a strong evidence base to support the recommendations and advice we provide
Leveraging partnerships with kindred organisations, stakeholders and devolved nation health services
Building on our international profile as a trusted partner and advisor in pathology practice
Developing industry partnerships to share knowledge and insights across pathology
5
Be a well-resourced, sustainable and inclusive organisation
We will promote sustainable pathology practice and ensure the College is resourced to achieve our current and future aims by:
Ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion in all that we do
Delivering digital transformation to advance organisational efficiency and support our members
Prioritising staff wellbeing and workload management
Delivering our carbon reduction plan and net zero commitment
Promoting sustainability in pathology practice through collaboration with relevant stakeholders
Ensuring financial sustainability; significantly reducing the deficit within 5 years
Harnessing new opportunities for income generation expansion and enhancement and the promotion of commercial activities of the College
Exploring how the College harnesses member expertise to deliver its mission
Building a stronger future
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A new outlook for a new strategy
Over the last year, the Trustee Board and the Senior Management Team have been heavily involved in setting the future direction of the College, both at a strategic and an operational level.
As we headed towards the end of our current 2021–2024 strategy, our intentions were to develop a new strategy by asking what is the key role of the College and what unique services do we provide. This provoked an in-depth discussion (and some soul-searching) about what distinguishes us from other royal colleges and organisations, and what matters most to our members and their patients, our staff and the public.
We identified 4 key purposes for the College:
Be the leading advocate for pathology, influencing and providing leadership
Focus on education, training and research for our members
Define the professional standards for patient care
Create a global community of pathologists
These focal points formed the basis for our 5-year strategy, with a new and energised perspective of the communities we support, serve and create. The 5 aims of our strategy are very much focused on leading from the front in areas such as pathology excellence, standards for education and training, advocacy and being a trusted partner, in addition to fostering a greater sense of belonging with our members, and ensuring the College is well resourced to support our members and communities.
You will see distinct differences in our new strategy. We are looking at the longer-term ambitions for the College, hence the extended 5-year view. We intend to identify and define measurable outcomes, wherever possible, so that members will have greater visibility of what the College does and the tangible value it brings.
The new strategy builds on strong foundations of the significant work done so far by the College in raising the profile of pathology as a career, advocating for the profession, maintaining high training and educational standards, and in being a clear and coherent voice for the pathology profession and its members. Operationally, we continue with our ambitious digital transformation project, which will provide new and improved services to our members, member engagement plans and our carbon reduction and Net Zero strategy, to name but a few.
The College cannot, however, achieve its ambitions without the engagement and involvement of its members. We are at the cusp of driving a new strategy, developed from a bold new perspective of the unique value we bring to our members. We hope that more of you will actively get involved in the College and join us on this new journey.
The past 3.5 years of working with the College (first as a Lay Trustee and the last year as Chair) have made me reflect on our resilience in facing a wide range of global and economic uncertainties. The College has emerged unshaken because of the strength, innovation and tenacity of our staff and volunteers in persevering in unprecedented times. This reminds us of a fundamental truth: “We are only as strong as our people”. I therefore hope that many of you will continue to volunteer and support the College.
Vince Voon, Chair of Trustee Board
Our governance
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Trustee Board and College Council (as at 30 June 2024)
Trustee Board
Vince Voon, Chair and Lay Trustee
Dr Bernie Croal, President
Professor Sarah Coupland, Registrar
Dr Stephen Morley, Assistant Registrar
Dr John Ashcroft, Treasurer and Chair, Intercollegiate Committee on Haematology
Dr Noha El Sakka, Vice President for Communications
Professor Marta Cohen, Vice President for Learning
Dr Laszlo Igali, Vice President for Professional Practice
Dr Gareth McKeeman, Chair, Northern Ireland Regional Council
Professor Peter Johnston, Chair, Scotland Regional Council
Dr Anu Gunavardhan, Chair, Wales Regional Council
Lesli Flinn, Lay Trustee
Jennifer Phillips, Lay Trustee
Council Members
Dr Bernie Croal, President
Professor Sarah Coupland, Registrar
Dr Stephen Morley, Assistant Registrar
Dr John Ashcroft, Treasurer
Dr Noha El Sakka, Vice President for Communications
Professor Marta Cohen, Vice President for Learning
Dr Laszlo Igali, Vice President for Professional Practice
Dr Gareth McKeeman, Chair, Northern Ireland Regional Council
Professor Peter Johnston, Chair, Scotland Regional Council
Dr Anu Gunavardhan, Chair, Wales Regional Council
Dr Guy Hannah, National Elected Member
Dr Arthi Anand, National Elected Member
Dr Sayed Bukhari, National Elected Member
Dr Alex Haragan, Elected Member (England North)
Vince Voon, Chair and Lay Trustee
Co-opted Council Members
Dr Rachael Liebmann, Medical Director, Sonic Healthcare
Observers to Council By Invitation
Dr Srinivas Annavarapu, Chair, Prenatal, Perinatal and Paediatric Pathology SAC
Dr Lisa Ayers, Chair, Healthcare Science Committee
Dr Adrian Bateman, Chair, Cellular Pathology SAC
Dr Ralph BouHaider, Chair, Forensic Pathology SAC
Professor Sebastian Brandner, Chair, Neuropathology SAC
Joanne Brinklow, Director of Learning
Professor Nicki Cohen, Clinical Director of Examinations
Dr Paul Craig, Chair, Dermatopathology Sub-Committee
Professor Paul Cross, Chair, Cytopathology Sub-Committee
Professor Angharad Davies, Clinical Director of Publishing and Engagement
Dr Mike Eden, Clinical Director for Safety and Quality
Lesli Flinn, Lay Trustee
Diane Gaston, Director of Communications
Dr Ian Godber, Chair, Clinical Biochemistry SAC
Kath Hayden, Association of Laboratory Medicine Representative
Professor Keith Hunter, Chair, Research Committee
Lt Col Dr Emma Hutley, Military Observer
Dr Jan Kalpwijk, Chair, Toxicology SAC
Dr Pamela Kelly, Chair, Veterinary Pathology SAC
Professor Mary Keogan, Dean of the Faculty of Pathology, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
Professor Jo Martin, National Specialty Advisor for Pathology, NHS England/Improvement
Dr Sian Morgan, Chair, Genomics and Reproductive Science SAC
Professor Ronan McMullan, Clinical Director of Training and Assessment
Dr Karen Mitchell, Chair, Pathology Informatics Committee
Dr Shruthi Narayan, Chair, Transfusion Medicine SAC
Debra Padgett, Institute of Biomedical Science Representative
Jennifer Phillips, Lay Trustee
Nigel Pollard, Director of Corporate Services
Dr Natasha Ratnaraja, Chair, Joint Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology SAC
Dr Sophie Roberts, Chair, Trainees’ Advisory Committee
Daniel Ross, Chief Executive
Dr Golda Shelley-Fraser, Chair, Medical Examiners Committee
Katherine Timms, Director of Professional Practice
Professor Darren Treanor, Chair, Digital Pathology Committee
Dr David Turner, Chair, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics SAC
Dr Patrick Yong, Chair, Immunology SAC
Dr Esther Youd, Chair, Death Investigation Committee
Working as one, we can provide better outcomes for all
We represent a worldwide community of pathologists across all 17 specialties and career stages. Working together, we can do more to develop and support excellence in pathology, resulting in better health outcomes for people across the world.
We develop innovative and readily accessible resources to support pathology education.
This year, the Portal received the Outstanding Innovation Award at the Healthcare Honours 2023, was highly commended at the 2024 HSJ Digital Awards and given the Margaret Kenwright award at the British Blood Transfusion Society 2024 conference.
Thanks to our members’ expertise and knowledge, we can make vital improvements in diagnostic and pathology services that benefit patients’ lives.
Our new technical external quality assurance (EQA) governance and oversight frameworks are a case in point. Participation in these frameworks will afford greater transparency to the process of ensuring standards of quality and safety are being upheld in all pathology specialties across the UK.
We develop and deliver internationally recognised exams, upholding the highest standards of pathology practice.
In the last year, we ran 67 exams for 2,278 FRCPath, Diploma, Certificate and Biomedical Scientist exam candidates. Working with our international regional advisors and country advisors, we set up new international exam centres in Singapore and Qatar, providing greater access to those wishing to take exams outside the UK.
Read on to learn more about our achievements in the last year and how these have paved the way for our future work to fulfill our new ambitious 5-year strategy.
I feel that the College has evolved and is really seeking to help with workforce challenges as much as it can within its remit. The College is moving forwards with patients and members at the heart of everything it does.
Dr Natasha Ratnaraja Chair of the Joint Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology SAC
Over the last year, the Trustee Board and the Senior Management Team have been heavily involved in setting the future direction of the College, both at a strategic and an operational level.
Thank you to our members, volunteers and staff for all they have achieved over the year. We’re excited for next year and building on our achievements and successes.
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