NEWS
Government hails CDC success
The UK Government has hailed the success of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), with 100 sites now operational, delivering over 7.2 million tests and scans in the last year. The CDCs allow tens of thousands of patients across England to access vital diagnostic tests and scans out of hours and in their community, with many centres open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Latest NHS England data show that the NHS delivered over 1.6 million more tests and scans from July 2024 to June 2025 compared to the same time the previous year. For cancer, the NHS hit the Faster Diagnosis Standard with 76.8% – or 218,463 people - having cancer ruled out or diagnosed within 28 days, the highest June since the standard was introduced. Improved performance on the Faster Diagnosis Standard means that 97,000 more people have had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July
2024 and June 2025, compared to the same period last year. CDCs are a pivotal part of the
government’s Plan for Change to transform care, moving it out of hospital and into the community. By speeding up diagnosis and treatment, government is reducing pressure on overwhelmed hospitals and putting patients at ease faster. Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England National Medical Director, said: “We know people are living incredibly busy lives and it’s vital NHS care reflects that. The services provided by community diagnostic centres enable people to receive the all-clear or a diagnosis at a time and location that suits them – whether before a school drop-off or after a work shift - and extending their opening hours means more people are being seen more quickly.”
The Plan for Change sets out how
government is doing things differently to transform the NHS. By moving care out of hospitals into communities, embracing cutting-edge technology, and redesigning services around patients’ needs the government reforms are creating a more accessible, efficient NHS that works for working people.
EDITOR’S COMMENT Questions and answers
Welcome to the September issue of Pathology in Practice and if it feels slightly chunkier than usual then that can mean only one thing – IBMS Congress is here! Hot on the heels of a larger-than-normal August issue, the one you’re currently holding is even bigger again – a testament to the importance of the event to our readers, authors, advertisers, along with my colleagues at Step Communications. With significant changes across the NHS to come over the next year or two, it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider where we will be at the time of the next Congress in 2027. Will changes designed to encourage adoption of new technology mean that a greater proportion than before of the novel diagnostic tools on show at the trade exhibition will be in use for the benefit of patients by the time of the next event? Will the newly enlarged Department of Health and Social Care be safely guiding the hospitals and medical teams of the UK? Will joined up digital pathology networks be used for the benefit both of patients and a rejuvenated pathology workforce? We probably won’t get answers to all
the burning questions, but there will no doubt be lots to discover, both in the exhibition and the myriad lectures and presentations which make up Congress’
leading scientific programme. I am very much looking forward to what will be my second Congress. Going into my fourth year with PiP I certainly know more than I did two years ago, but am very aware there’s lots for everyone to discover and learn. Please do drop by our stand in the foyer area if you have any thoughts or comments on either the magazine or Congress to share. To pass the days until Congress arrives this issue has a wide spread of articles to broaden your knowledge. Subjects include plasma viscosity to diagnose long COVID, the future of newborn screening, a report looking at 20 years of data from EQA of blood gas analysers, Stephen MacDonald’s latest article on risk analysis, and measures to optimise the pre-analytic phase for pathology samples.
I’m also pleased that this issue has an Opinion article from IBMS Chief Executive David Wells. His piece on a recent report that was produced in collaboration with the IBMS underlines the important work done by the Institute on behalf of the biomedical science profession, and by extension to improve healthcare for NHS patients across the country.
Enjoy the issue, and if you’re
there make the most of the learning opportunity offered by IBMS Congress.
andymyall@pathologyinpractice.com
Novel diagnostic for milk allergy in children
A blood test showing how white blood cells interact with milk proteins could transform the diagnosis and management of cow’s milk allergy in young children. The basophil activation test (BAT) is
more accurate than standard allergy tests for detecting cow’s milk allergy in children and could reduce the need for oral food challenges in allergy diagnosis. The study, which was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), was led by researchers from King’s College London, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The BAT 2 milk study looked at the accuracy of BAT in identifying cow’s milk allergy compared to two routinely used allergy tests in 150 children undergoing oral food challenges to cow’s milk. The team found that BAT was more accurate at identifying children who reacted to oral food challenges than either the skin prick
WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM SEPTEMBER 2025
or specific IgE tests, particularly in children under two years old. The results also showed that the use of BAT as a standalone test could reduce the need for oral food challenges, used to confirm diagnosis. The test is also about five times cheaper
to perform than an oral food challenge. Cow’s milk allergy affects 2% to 3% of babies and young children and is a leading cause of food-induced anaphylaxis. However, existing diagnostic tools often result in overdiagnosis, leading to unnecessary milk avoidance and related nutritional and developmental concerns. n Bartha I, Boyd H, Foong RX, et al. The Basophil Activation Test Is the Most Accurate Test in Predicting Allergic Reactions to Baked and Fresh Cow’s Milk During Oral Food Challenges. Allergy. 2025 Aug 13. doi: 10.1111/all.16675. Online ahead of print.
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