Inquiry Panel Chair, Jane Mishcon’s official report into the serious concerns about University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust’s histopathology reporting in the specialisms of breast, lung, gynaecology, skin and paediatric pathology has not yet been published.

NHS organisations in Bristol have said that it will be published in December 2010.

Meanwhile, this report has been produced by Daphne Havercroft, a patient advocate who has used Bristol’s histopathology services and knows the NHS well, having been involved in local service reconfigurations.

Report on the Bristol Histopathology Inquiry Nov. 2010

Daphne’s report raises the questions that, as a user of the service, she thinks the Inquiry Panel must answer. She waits to see whether Jane Mishcon has answered them in her report.

The Royal College of Pathologists describes pathology as “the hidden science that saves lives”. Patients and the public have a part to play to flush it out of hiding. A good start is to read Daphne’s report, and then the Panel’s report when it is available, to see if Daphne’s questions have been satisfactorily answered.