Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley is thrilled with the £31million investment by the Department for Health and Social Care in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Pathology Collaboration.
Funding will focus on consolidating the pathology services across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Sustainability and Transformation partnership. It is proposed to invest in a purpose built pathology hub facility providing ‘cold’ pathology testing, and purpose built essential service labs located in acute hospital sites, providing the delivery of emergency and inpatient testing.
The scheme will represent a pooled investment for modern pathology equipment and facilities, avoid duplication of testing and delays in diagnosis, facilitate multi-disciplinary working with improved economies of scale whilst supporting patient choice regarding how they access services.
Showing his support for the investment, Nigel Evans said:
“This is fantastic news for Lancashire and South Cumbria, it is reassuring to know the Government understands the pressures on local pathology services.
Technology in this area is moving incredibly fast. That fast that trust resources cannot always keep up, this investment is a massive statement from the Mr Hunt and shows that he is aware of the difficulties trusts face across the country.
Crucially, this fund will address the challenges concerning recruitment and retention. A skilled pool of dedicated professionals are the backbone of the NHS, it is therefore imperative that steps are taken to ensure the sustainability of the trust’s pathology services.”
Allocation of the funds follows the collaboration of pathology facilities of three trusts across the North West. Various reviews of pathology, drawing on national and international best practice, have identified a range of potential benefits from collaborative pathology services formed by multiple trusts, including; the opportunity to utilise increasingly scarce skills and resources across a broader geography; standardisation of equipment, IT systems, training, quality systems, and standard operating procedures; and greater efficiency and reduced costs from consolidating non- urgent or cold tests, pooling procurement and sharing overheads.