My name is Mike Biscombe and I am the Operations Manager for Cellular and Anatomical Pathology.

 

“What is that?” I’m sure some of you will be asking, but first of all let me say something about myself.

 

I am not an Allied Health Professional or a Healthcare Scientist. I am a fairly ordinary bloke from an industry background who has had the good fortune to end up working with a group of extraordinary people.

 

My team, the Cellular and Anatomical Pathology Team will not be known by a great deal of people within or outside of the hospital, but I’m sure that most people would soon realise if they weren’t around.

 

The team comprises of four main disciplines; Mortuary, Histology, Cytology and Neuropathology.

 

So, I would love to take this opportunity to tell you what they do and, most importantly, the huge difference they make to this Trust.

 

Mortuary

Well it’s obvious what the mortuary staff do isn’t it? They store bodies. No – this group of unsung heroes do so much more than that. They assist the pathologists with autopsies, they ensure that the deceased are treated with dignity and respect, they spend time chasing paper work to ensure that the deceased’s transition from mortuary to funeral director happens in a smooth and timely manner, often having difficult conversations with overworked and weary medics. They also deal with relatives at a time when they are at their lowest, but always with good grace and good humour. I know that this is not a role that I could carry out.

 

Histology, Neuropathology and Cytology

Staff of all levels work tirelessly to ensure that patient’s cases progress through the system and are diagnosed and reported as quickly as possible. Secretarial and admin personnel work tirelessly making sure that the technical and medical part of the team have the resources they need to carry out their roles. They also ensure that there are effective links between Cell-path and all requesting departments.

 

The medical and scientific staff carry out highly technical work often in difficult circumstances.

They do not down tools and rush home at the end of the working day, but stay in order to ensure that work is completed and the department is left in an orderly state. They deal with complicated, often upsetting cases and at times are pressured to deliver quickly.

 

This is a team of many constituent parts: Admin, Secretarial, ATO, Technicians, Biomedical Scientists, Registrars and Consultants, but they are all constituent parts of a single, cohesive and truly effective team.

If I, or any of my relatives, needed the services of Cellular and Anatomical Pathology, I know that the service provided would be exceptional.

I am extremely proud to be part of such an amazing team.

Mike is writing as part of the #WeCare2 campaign that will be running across our Trust communications. Look out for more from his profession, and their AHP and HCS colleagues, on our social media pages, Trust screensavers, Daily Email, Vital Signs and much more.