Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2017 to Question 105321, for what reason that information is not collected centrally; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that such information is collected in future in order to inform future workforce planning.

The information is not held centrally because of difficulties surrounding accurate identification of the specific sub-group of cellular pathologists.

“Cellular pathology” (also known as histopathology and cytopathology) is not a single specialty, but describes the group of pathology specialties that study changes in cells and tissues to make a diagnosis. It includes 20 subspecialties, such as neuropathology, dermatopathology and haematopathology.

Of these, the National Workforce Dataset, the data standards that underpin workforce data across the National Health Service only separately identifies histopathology.

Since mid-2017, the Workforce Information Review Group, led by NHS Digital, have been in discussion with the Royal College of Pathologists with a view to describing the pathology workforce better in the National Workforce Dataset. It is anticipated that changes will be considered by the Data Coordination Board in early to mid-2018, with implementation in systems such as the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources and payroll system used across the NHS, roughly six months after approval.