Pathology services in Kent and Medway could be delivered with a private sector partner or outsourced under options being considered by the area’s four acute trusts.
Less urgent pathology services could also be concentrated in just one or two hubs, although each acute hospital without a hub would keep an essential services laboratory.
Unite – which represents a number of pathology staff in the county – has called the potential reorganisation “misguided”. The trade union has warned it will campaign against any option which leads to outsourcing or the reduction of terms and conditions.
Full story in The HSJ, 3 January 2019
