The Department is taking action to ensure sufficient provision of the histopathology workforce. As of April 2026, there were over 1,400 full-time equivalent consultants working in histopathology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is almost 50, or 3.5%, more than in April 2025.

NHS England is expanding histopathology training places and has increased trainee numbers since 2020. Additional actions that have been taken include long-term investment in training, greater flexibility and access to education programmes, training grants, retaining senior expertise through the retire and return for teaching programme, and expanding teaching and training fellowships to support workforce growth.

Alongside workforce expansion, NHS England is increasing productivity through the adoption of digital pathology, service automation, and demand optimisation. These measures, together with consistent standards, modernised assessments to support trainee progression, and retention initiatives, will help ensure the workforce can meet growing demand and support delivery of the National Cancer Plan's ambition for 98% of histopathology tests to be reported within 10 days by March 2029.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Historically, each National Health Service trust has had a separate Laboratory Information and Management System (LIMS), which precludes the seamless digital sharing of pathology results and reports between trusts.

NHS England has provided funding and expertise to support each of the 27 pathology networks in England to build interoperable LIMS platforms across their member trusts. This will allow each trust in a pathology network to share the results and reports with all other trusts in that network. To date, 12 of the 27 networks have delivered this capability, with a further eight networks expected to reach that point by March 2027. NHS England is now commencing work on a National Pathology Platform, which will seek to allow pathology results to be shared between all trusts in England by March 2029.

NHS England is also supporting the transition from legacy pathology messaging standards to a new, modernised set of national standards to enable the seamless electronic transfer of test results between NHS pathology providers and general practices, regardless of the LIMS in use.

This programme is focused on developing and validating consistent messaging formats and data structures that improve interoperability, reduce reliance on manual processes, and minimise the risk of errors or delays in reporting. The work also recognises the need to extend and mature these standards to ensure they comprehensively cover all pathology specialities, supporting both test requesting and results reporting across all care settings. These standards will not only improve timeliness, accuracy, and continuity of care, but also provide the foundation for integration with wider diagnostic services, including genomics and blood and transplant systems. In doing so, they support more joined-up clinical pathways and underpin the longer-term ambition of integrated care and a single patient record across the NHS.

The Government is fully committed to attracting, training, and recruiting the National Health Service workforce of the future, including paediatric pathologists.

NHS England established a national programme in late 2022 to address paediatric and perinatal pathologist workforce challenges and has undertaken significant work in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. This has included making additional funding available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post available.

NHS England has also appointed a new National Training Programme Director, who has been working with the Lead Postgraduate Dean to influence positive changes to the examination structures in collaboration with the Royal College of Pathologists and the General Medical Council.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

I am aware of the case that she raises, and I know the honourable member has written to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office about it and that officials are in touch with her constituent. There is no guidance on the specific circumstances she raises.

The paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce report highlights the extent of the workforce crisis in paediatric and perinatal pathology and the impact this can have on turnaround times and families.

NHS England has launched a national programme to strengthen perinatal and paediatric pathology services and to improve service capacity and resilience.

A £20,000 recruitment incentive for new trainees has been introduced, a fully funded international recruitment campaign has launched, and a new National Training Programme Director has been appointed.

Further initiatives are underway to review the training pathway, develop advanced practitioner roles, and implement a retention strategy for existing staff.

NHS England established a national programme in late 2022 to address paediatric and perinatal pathologist workforce challenges and has undertaken significant work in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. This has included making additional funding available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post available and changes to the national training course and examination structure. The number of training posts has increased across several recruitment rounds and the perinatal and paediatric training pathway will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026.

The National Cancer Plan sets out how we will strengthen the cancer workforce, including for diagnostics, such as pathology. The plan sets out sustainable workforce growth, focused not on simply expanding numbers but on ensuring staff are properly trained, supported, and able to work at the top of their skills.

The plan sets out how we will support pathologists to work more efficiently through a £604 million investment in digital diagnostics, including digital pathology, and £96 million in the automation of histopathology, as well as further investment in digital technology and artificial intelligence. Expansion of advanced clinical practice for scientists will also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the pathology workforce as a whole.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published in spring, setting out further action to create a workforce able to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

In the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, we set out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver effective care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills when needed.

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver effective care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills when needed.

We are engaging with partners throughout this process. As we continue the open and wide-ranging conversations we’ve been having with staff, patients, and organisations, including royal colleges across the country, we will ensure that the engagement is robust and representative of different stakeholder groups.

The Ministry of Justice recognises that the system for commissioning pathologists to undertake post-mortems for coroners needs to function effectively to help coroners determine causes of death and meet the needs of bereaved families. Ministry of Justice officials are working closely with other government departments and wider stakeholders in the pathology sector, to understand the issues for the coronial pathology workforce and those of the wider system.

The Ministry of Justice has recently undertaken a data-gathering exercise intended to better-understand the profile of this workforce. We will continue to work across Whitehall and with external stakeholders to ensure that there is a secure number of pathologists ready to undertake this vital work for coroners and ensure the needs of bereaved families are met.

NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England, which are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

These statistics include staff working in hospital trusts and integrated care boards, but excludes staff working in primary care, general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), the human resources system for the National Health Service.

The data published by NHS England shows that, as of June 2024, there are 3,164 full-time equivalent and 3,515 headcount consultants in the pathology specialty group employed in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England.

I am so sorry to hear that having experienced such unimaginable heartbreak, the family then had to go through that additional trauma. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and look at what we can do together with our friends at the Ministry of Justice to improve the experience for families in that awful situation.

My constituents’ baby, Bran Tunnicliffe, sadly died last year. His parents shared their experience with me, and described the wait for a coroner’s report as a lottery that depends on which hospital, pathologist and coroner is involved. I know that there is a shortage of pathologists in the UK. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss my constituents’ experience?

Coroner services are funded and administered by one of 74 lead local authorities. Coronial post-mortem examinations are carried out on a fee paid basis at the request of the coroner by specialist practitioners from within the cadre of pathologists in England and Wales who undertake post-mortem work. The Ministry of Justice does not currently hold data on the number of practitioners carrying out this work in individual coroner areas, but we are undertaking a data collection exercise to better understand the spread of provision across the 74 areas.

The Government acknowledges the significant challenges currently affecting post-mortem pathology services across England and Wales. It is firmly committed to driving meaningful progress on this complex, cross-cutting issue as a matter of urgency. This includes engagement with relevant Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement a sustainable, long-term solution.

Coroner services are funded and administered by one of 74 lead local authorities. Coronial post-mortem examinations are carried out on a fee paid basis at the request of the coroner by specialist practitioners from within the cadre of pathologists in England and Wales who undertake post-mortem work. The Ministry of Justice does not currently hold data on the number of practitioners carrying out this work in individual coroner areas, but we are undertaking a data collection exercise to better understand the spread of provision across the 74 areas.

The Government acknowledges the significant challenges currently affecting post-mortem pathology services across England and Wales. It is firmly committed to driving meaningful progress on this complex, cross-cutting issue as a matter of urgency. This includes engagement with relevant Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement a sustainable, long-term solution.

The Government has not made an estimate of the average time taken to carry out postmortems ordered by a coroner.

No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of the number of qualified pathologists or paediatric pathologists either across England or at the Scarborough, Hull, and York Pathology Service.

The Department is aware that workforce shortages in paediatric and perinatal pathology have led to longer turnaround times for hospital post-mortem reports in some areas of England. NHS England has therefore established a national work programme to address shortages in paediatric and perinatal pathologists. A £20,000 recruitment incentive for new trainees has been introduced, with further initiatives underway to review the training pathway, develop advanced practitioner roles, and implement a retention strategy for existing staff.

No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of the number of qualified pathologists or paediatric pathologists either across England or at the Scarborough, Hull, and York Pathology Service.

The Department is aware that workforce shortages in paediatric and perinatal pathology have led to longer turnaround times for hospital post-mortem reports in some areas of England. NHS England has therefore established a national work programme to address shortages in paediatric and perinatal pathologists. A £20,000 recruitment incentive for new trainees has been introduced, with further initiatives underway to review the training pathway, develop advanced practitioner roles, and implement a retention strategy for existing staff.