RESUMO
AIMS: To assess the current utilisation of biomedical scientist (BMS) surgical specimen cut-up in the UK and attitudes of consultant histopathologists to the practice. METHODS: Email invitations were sent to all UK consultant histopathologists to participate in an online survey (SurveyMonkey) assessing attitudes to and utilisation of BMS surgical specimen cut-up. RESULTS: 463 individual replies were received (35% response rate) from 1320 invitations to participate, covering 181 UK histopathology departments. A majority of the respondents were either fully in favour of BMS cut-up (52.7%), or in favour but with some reservation (46.2%). Only five respondents (1.1%) were completely opposed to BMS cut-up. 267 (57.7%) respondents reported that their BMS staff loaded biopsies only. 148 (32%) reported BMS cut-up of more complex benign specimens, and 83 (17.9%) reported BMS handling of orientated skin specimens. Only 39 (8.4%) reported that BMS staff in their departments currently cut-up larger cancer resections. CONCLUSIONS: This survey is representative of current BMS cut-up practice in the UK. The majority of UK consultant histopathologists replying to this survey support BMS cut-up to some degree, but utilisation of BMS cut-up is rather limited and patchy at present. Cost, staffing constraints, perceived quality issues and individual consultant preferences are cited as reasons for limited uptake currently. Recognised benefits of promoting BMS cut-up include better use of consultant time, enhanced team working, BMS job satisfaction and career progression, and better adherence to standard operating procedures.
