Cellular Pathology

Cellular pathology is the study of organs and tissues, and is used to diagnose illnesses and medical problems, similar to other branches of medicine, such as blood testing, radiology, blood transfusion and biochemistry. We analyse the causes of certain diseases and the effects that they are having on the body. Cellular pathologists also help decide which treatment is appropriate, assist in determining a prognosis and help find out what may have caused a person’s death.

There are two main areas within cellular pathology: histopathology, which involves the examination of sampled whole tissues under the microscope. and diagnostic cytopathology (Non-gynaecology), which is the examination of single cells. The department no longer provides a cervical cytology screening service, this service is now conducted by Liverpool Clinical Laboratories.

Who we are

The Cellular Pathology Laboratory provides a high quality, cost effective service to the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS foundation trust, GP’s and community hospitals within the Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group area and is a referral centre for specialist services for other trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups outside the Wirral. It is continually upgrading the test repertoire offered to reflect developments in the medical field. The laboratories are staffed by highly qualified and experienced medical, scientific, and technical and support personnel.

The Laboratory offers the following services 

• Histopathology
• Post-mortem Autopsy
• Non-Gynaecological Cytology

The laboratory is subject to external accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and assessed against compliance with the international standard ISO15189. The laboratory is a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No 8836.

The current scope of accredited practice can be found on the UKAS website. http://www.ukas.com/search-accredited-organisations/

The laboratory and Mortuary is subject to external accreditation by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) The laboratory is fully licensed and the licence number is 12027

The laboratory runs a comprehensive quality management system and participates in all relevant National Quality Assurance Schemes as well as operating a schedule of Internal quality audit, corrective action and quality improvement

The laboratory is accredited for training by the Health and Care Professions Council, The Royal College of Pathologists and the Institute of Biomedical Science.

General Laboratory Enquires

Histopathology: 0151 604 7778

Key Contact Information

Mrs Joanne Evans joanneevans1@nhs.net                          ext 7410

Cervical Screening Programme Lead and Quality Manager

Mr Alistair Armstrong alistair.armstrong@nhs.net                 ext 7416

Cellular Pathology Service Manager and Quality Manager

HTA Designated Individual (DI)

Mr Mike Murphy mike.murphy1@nhs.net ext 2361

Mortuary Manager             

Dr Anshu Awasthi   anshu.awasthi@nhs.net                        ext 2725   

Cellular Pathology Clinical Service Lead