Now available to read online, the first issue of 2026 is here with a brand new look!
The February issue of PiP has now been published and is available to read online.
From the Editor: New year, new look…
Welcome to our first issue of 2026 – by now you’ve probably already noticed we’ve had a bit of a new year spruce up around here. Credit to our designer Laurence Hallam for Pathology in Practice’s new look, which I hope you’ll agree is a bright and refreshing update to a successful formula. Hopefully you’ll also be pleased to hear that PiP plans on continuing to bring you a broad selection of articles looking at advances in laboratory medicine and associated areas and products, just as it always has. Evolution, not revolution; as they say!
Looking back 12 months, at the start of 2025, we were anticipating the 10 Year Plan in the spring. It eventually arrived in the summer, by which time the news about NHS England – which we weren’t expecting – had been announced. The lengthy process of amalgamating NHSE into the Department of Health & Social Care is still ongoing and seems likely to take most of this year. The next step is to be the publication of the Government’s NHS 10- Year Workforce Plan for England, slated to be in ‘early 2026’. With workforce pressures in laboratories – as well as the NHS as a whole of course – not likely to be solved quickly or easily, it will be interesting to see how much of a presence the biomedical science cohort has in this document.
First up in this issue is a preview of the annual BSMT Microbiology Conference, which this year focuses on microbiology practice. Taking place at the regular north London venue of Hendon’s RAF Museum on Thursday 21 May, it is dedicated this year to the memory of Jim Lindsay, a founder member and long-serving secretary and committee member of the BSMT. Jim sadly passed away after a short illness, not long after helping the BSMT celebrate its 40th anniversary conference last year. He will be much missed this year.
Also featuring in this issue are a variety of new technologies currently being put to use for the benefit of patients. These include near-patient CPE testing for stroke patients, using molecular testing to improve HER2 classification, home testing for IBD monitoring, and finally a digital solution for urinalysis.
With plans developing to make it easier to adopt new technologies – both from clinical and business angles – perhaps 2026 will be the year that new advancements are able to make a significant difference to the lives of patients more quickly? Here’s hoping.
Andy Myall
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