Raising concerns in pathology
All members are encouraged to raise and act on concerns about patient safety through local or regulatory mechanisms.
Patient safety and quality improvement
The College works to improve the quality of care and of services for patients through the promotion and dissemination of quality improvement. Quality improvement should be seen as an integral part of everyone’s responsibility to identify elements of their work that could be done better, rather than an optional add-on. It is about using real-time measurement of change to improve the processes involved in treating patients and ensuring the best outcomes for them. It can improve job satisfaction, and efficiency and safety of care, with knock-on effects on healthcare budgets.
Improving safety and quality in pathology, including integrated learning from mistakes and understanding the role of human factors, is a key priority for the College.
Our Patient Safety and Quality Strategy
The Royal College of Pathologists’ Patient Safety and Quality Strategy 2024–2029 outlines our commitment to improving patient safety and delivering excellence in pathology services. This strategy empowers pathologists and their teams to lead the way in safe, high-quality care by addressing key challenges and embracing innovation.
6 strategic aims underpin the strategy: quality improvement and patient safety, workforce expansion, development and wellbeing, digital transformation and technological integration, regulatory compliance, accreditation and advocacy, collaboration and communication.
This strategy reflects our commitment to fostering progress, promoting collaboration and achieving excellence in pathology. It equips our members with the essential tools and frameworks necessary to continue delivering the highest quality of care, addressing current challenges, and preparing for future advancements in healthcare.
We want to hear your views!
The Professional Guidelines team would like to hear your views on the College's online resources related to quality improvement and patient safety activities. We also welcome suggestions for the development of new resources that may help to improve the quality of service and care for patients.
Send us your views or suggestions at: clinicaleffectiveness@rcpath.org
Conducting a clinical audit
As part of our continuous quality improvement programme, the College promotes high-quality clinical audit.
Patient safety bulletins
Our patient safety bulletins are designed to help members learn from events in other organisations in a quick and simple way to help keep patients safe. They bring together themes across specialties and services.
Patient safety and CQI resources
The College has a range of resources to help with patient safety, including audit templates, video webinars and podcasts.
Technical EQA
A 2-year programme has been produced with the aim to develop a robust framework for the system wide governance and oversight of external quality assurance (EQA).