Message from Programme Director
Thanks to the significant input from our stakeholders, we are making good progress against the key milestones set at the start of the Programme in January 2022. We are really keen to continue to engage you in this work and, at our upcoming round of engagement events in February and March 2023, you have the opportunity to contribute your thoughts and ideas about the future management structure for pathology services in Northern Ireland. Further information on how to join these events is in the “Roadshows” section of this webpage where you can also find the documents I refer to in this update. At the engagement events, you will be able to learn more about the work being undertaken and also have the opportunity to contribute your opinions.
The Programme team held a Benefits Workshop with stakeholders in November 2022. Four discussion groups were asked to think about the potential benefits that could come from a new, single, regional pathology management structure for pathology services. Each group focused on one of the four Design Areas: Corporate Functions; Governance; Assets & Facilities; and Planning & Performance Management. These groups generated a massive 121 ideas. The Programme Team analysed these and found 10 key themes. Work is continuing to produce and agree a final list of anticipated benefits and how these will be measured to let us know if they are being achieved as we move forward.
Understanding the potential benefits will help the Programme to select the preferred option for the organisational form that the new pathology management structure could take. The programme has consulted on and agreed an inclusive process that involves stakeholders in selecting that option. This process begins on 24 March 2023 and will conclude in early July 2023 when we will know the preferred option.
As well as the Benefits work, in January 2023, the Pathology Blueprint Programme Board agreed a set of Design Principles that were also co-produced with our stakeholders. These Principles will help guide and keep us focused on achieving the best possible design for the management structure.
Information provided to us by stakeholders at Design Workshops in the summer of 2022 has been used to develop an Initial Design through the four programme workstreams and Design Team. At present, this lists all the areas that will need to be considered when we start to create the ‘Detailed Design’ later in 2023 once the preferred option is confirmed. The Detailed Design will describe how the new management structure could work in practice.
It is really important that you attend and participate in the engagement events as it will help us ensure that your views are considered. There will be further engagement with you in late summer/early autumn to let you know how the work is progressing and give you the opportunity to contribute to the next stage of the programme.
Karin Jackson
Blueprint Programme Director
Chief Medical Officer’s welcome to the programme
As the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the Blueprint Programme, I am delighted work is now underway to design the future management structure and operating model for HSC pathology services.
The pandemic showed just how important sustainable pathology services are to our health system. In recognition of this, last autumn the Minister announced a £40m investment in a regional Laboratory information system (LIMS) and published a policy statement setting out the future vision for pathology services, including the establishment of the Blueprint Programme to plan for a new regional pathology management structure. Alongside the important work taking place through the NI Pathology Network, these developments will create a strong foundation for a sustainable world class pathology service for HSC patients well into the future.
The first step in that journey will be the forthcoming series of stakeholder engagement events in May and June being organised by the programme. The Department’s Rebuilding Management Board has given its collective support for this work, and I hope you will engage wholeheartedly in the programme as it moves forward. The Department recognises the scale of change in pathology, we will take account of that in our planning, but we must retain the strong focus on delivering our high-quality business as usual during this time of change.
Professor Sir Michael McBride
Chief Medical Officer, DoH
Pathology Network Board welcomes Blueprint Programme
At Pathology Network Board on 22nd April 2022, the establishment of the Blueprint Programme was welcomed. Network Chair since 2010, Jennifer Welsh described how the Pathology Network has had an important role in driving improvement in pathology services since its inception in 2009: “we are now striding forward with major developments that will enable us to provide the best possible pathology service for patients, donors and service users into the future”.
The Network has been and remains a critical enabler for the NI Pathology Information Management Systems (NIPIMS) Programme. In the same way, it will enable the Blueprint Programme to engage effectively with pathology stakeholders and services in the Blueprint design. The Network welcomes its engagement by the Blueprint Programme and looks forward to taking part in the stakeholder engagement events in May and June.
We in the Network will continue with our current workplan, because the new management structure will adopt and use the products that the network is currently developing. These include new career and training opportunities for staff, standardisation and more regional approaches to how we work across the spectrum of pathology service delivery to improve quality. The Network will strive to ensure pathology services are at the heart of shaping their future.
This programme also spells a time of change for the Network, since its functions will become part of the new regional pathology management structure. The opportunity to embed the highly effective multi-disciplinary, multi-professional regional planning and working that has evolved through the Network will greatly enable the speed with which the new management structure, once designed and approved, may become operational.
Jennifer Welsh, Chair,
NI Pathology Network
