A report from The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) published this week shows that bereaved parents face lengthy waits for answers due to chronic paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce shortages.
The RCPath report states that only 3% of consultants in the UK say current staffing levels are adequate to ensure the long-term sustainability of their services and to meet growing clinical demand.
There are no consultants in post in Northern Ireland, the South West and Midlands areas of England.
And there is a substantial number of vacant consultant posts, a dwindling number of resident doctors coming into the specialty and 25% of the consultant workforce are forecast to retire within the next five years.
"Our service is in crisis. This is having a significant and distressing effect on families who regularly report long and harrowing waits for post-mortem reports. One in five families are now waiting 6 months or more, and some longer than 12 months.
"There are simply not enough consultants to undertake this work and families are suffering. Due to the severe resource issues, paediatric and perinatal pathologists tell us their inability to provide high quality care to their patients is leaving them feeling stretched, stressed and burnt out."
- Dr Clair Evans, Chair of the Royal College of Pathologists’ Specialty Advisory Committee for Pre/Perinatal/Paediatric Pathology
Bereaved parents left waiting too long for answers
The Royal College of Pathologists and Sands have consistently raised concerns about the paediatric and perinatal pathology service with government.
Sands has heard from many bereaved parents who consented to a post-mortem, who spoke about long waiting times and the significant impact that has had on them. For some parents, as well as the impact on their mental health and grief journey, the delay meant they could not plan to try for another child.
The stress on pathology services is leading to gaps in systems and processes in many hospitals and this causes intensely distressing experiences for parents.
"Today's report from the Royal College of Pathologists adds to the growing evidence that workforce shortages are causing unacceptable and heart-breaking delays for bereaved parents in getting post-mortem results. At Sands we hear regularly about the devastating impact of the lengthy delays on parents, who are left in limbo, waiting for answers and for vital information they need to plan their futures. Too often their pain is further exacerbated by poor communication and the struggle to get information.
"We urge the Government and those delivering service to further accelerate work to address this crisis, and close the agonising gap between a baby dying and parents finding out why it happened."
- Sands' Chief Executive Clea Harmer
Sands agrees with RCPath's recommendation that investment and commitment from all four UK governments is needed to enable the provision of resilient and sustainable services.
Immediate action is needed to address the desperate situation across paediatric and perinatal pathology services. The solutions are not simple and our report sets out steps that would start to address the challenges. Commitment from all 4 UK governments is vital, as is investment in paediatric services. The College is eager to contribute to clear workforce planning, including an appropriate training and recruitment strategy to support the provision of resilient and sustainable paediatric pathology services.
- Dr Bernie Croal, President, The Royal College of Pathologists
Sands is working to improve care and support families
Sands has been feeding into NHS England initiatives, including plans for service re-organisation, but is increasingly concerned that user needs are not yet sufficiently prioritised and that the prospect of a service fit for purpose remains far off.
We also act as the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss, and Sands has been working with MPs to raise awareness of this issue.
Sands here to support
We have lots of advice and information for parents on what a post-mortem involves and what to do if there are delays in getting the results.
We've also developed a post-mortem consent package for healthcare professionals.
Sands is here to support anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, however recently or longer ago, wherever they are in the UK for as long as they need this.