NHS Wales Executive has recently undergone a review and revision of governance arrangements and the National Pathology Programme has aligned with the National Planned Care Programme alongside the other strategic diagnostic modalities (Imaging and Endoscopy).
Our programme now feeds into the Welsh Government National Planned Care Board and it is anticipated that diagnostics will be required to provide this board with assurance in the form of service quality and performance data going forward.
The Pathology Quality and Regulatory Compliance Group (PQARCG) is well placed to support this work and already has a good understanding of UKAS accreditation across the country, as well as providing peer support for those laboratories and services undergoing assessments or providing evidence to address non-conformities.
This workstream has also recently compiled information relating to MHRA licencing of establishments. The Anatomical Pathology Compliance and Workforce Group (APCWG) was established in the latter part of 2023, which seeks to support Mortuary services in all matters relating to HTA licencing.
It is anticipated that both PQARCG and APCWG will support work ongoing to develop a Pathology quality assurance dashboard, which in turn can be used to collate and provide information to feed into the National Planned Care Board in due course.