Dorset LEP to invest £2m in local NHS hub

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has announced it is investing £2.28m towards the creation of a new Histopathology Diagnostic Hub for Dorset.

The hub will be at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, while the funding itself comes from central government’s Local Growth Deal.

According to the LEP, the hub will help to put Dorset at the front-edge of histopathology diagnostics, speeding up patient diagnosis, and ensure a healthy county for the future

Histopathology is the diagnosis and study of diseases of the tissues and involves examining tissues and/or cells under a microscope.

The Dorset LEP investment is for the introduction of a 500m2 high quality histopathology laboratory and support space at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital which is being supported by a further £20 million match funding contribution by the NHS.

The Histopathology Diagnostic Hub will be part of a wider new Pathology Hub in Dorset which aims to significantly improve patient diagnostic services in Dorset. The new digitalisation and application of Artificial Intelligence will potentially lead to improved speed and reliability of diagnosis for illnesses.

Working towards this goal is One Dorset Pathology, a collaborative partnership between the pathology services at three hospital trusts in Dorset – the Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and, The Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

‘Investing millions into our local NHS services at this time makes me extremely proud,’ said Dorset LEP chairman, Jim Stewart.

‘The new Histopathology Diagnostic Hub will deliver against the strategic objectives as set out in the Dorset Local Industrial Strategy utilising medical technologies to address the grand challenge of an ageing society and will be an important asset in improving healthy ageing. It will also support our ambition for Dorset to be a national leader in the One Health concept, adopting a holistic approach that ensures our population ages well and lives sensitively in the environment.’

Photo Credit – Supplied by Dorset LEP