Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI)

Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) is the main hospital of the United Bristol Healthcare NHS trust. The department receives approximately;

• 16000 surgical pathology specimens
• 4200 non-gynaecological specimens and;
• performs 750 post-mortems per year. The department supports two 'one stop' breast clinics with in-clinic diagnostic cytology.

The trainees are posted to Southmead Hospital for gynaecological cytology on weekly basis. The department also provides paediatric and perinatal pathology service for the region. It receives 1800 paediatric surgical specimens and approx. 500 paediatric and perinatal autopsies. All the standard and modern diagnostic modalities are available in the laboratory including immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence electron microscopy and molecular biology.

Southmead Hospital

Southmead Hospital is part of North Bristol NHS trust. The workload of the Department of Cellular Pathology is;

• 12300 surgical specimens
• 700 autopsies (including 60 perinatal autopsies)
• 54000 gynaecological cytology specimens and 3000 non-gynaecological cytology specimens.

The cytopathology laboratory is responsible for the Avon Cervical Screening Programme and for the Bladder Cancer Screening Programme.  Situated adjacent to the cytopathology laboratory is the South West Regional Cytology Training Centre which is well equipped.  Training courses are held here in Cytopathology for both medical and technical staff.  The Histopathology and Cytopathology laboratories are both well equipped and staffed.  Transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques are all used routinely and provided on site.  

Derriford Hospital, Plymouth

Derriford Hospital has cancer centre status, is a centre for Forrest Breast Screening Unit and provides renal dialysis and transplant patient care.  As a consequence, the Histopathology Department receives very large quantities of pathological material, much of which is of a highly specialised nature. 

The Department receives approximately;

• 28,000 histology specimens
• 31,500 cervical smears and;
• 4,000 non-gynaecological cytology specimens. 
• The neuropathology service reports approximately 450 intracranial/spinal biopsies, 100 muscle/peripheral nerve biopsies and 65 neuropathology autopsies annually. 
• A total of 1500 autopsies are performed annually.  The department offers all the facilities appropriate to a Histopathology department of this size including immunohistochemistry, resin imbedding, and electron microscopy. 

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital 

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Histopathology Department has a long and successful record in training junior Histopathologists to a consultant level over the past 25 years.  The Department has acquired extensive experience in looking after the educational needs of trainees with widely different levels of experience. 

The Department of Histopathology currently receives a wide range of specimens from all of the main sub-specialties and includes;

• 23,000 surgical specimens
• 4,000 non-gynaecological cytology specimens and;
• 33,000 gynaecological cytology cases per annum. 
• The Department also performs approximately 850 autopsies per annum, 95% of which have been requested by the Coroner.