NEWS: The NLMC is available for peer review from 31st January 2012. To find out more, access the NLMC Peer Review page.

The UK has an enviable reputation for high quality Pathology Services. Pathology is a key part of almost all patient pathways and effective NHS Pathology Services are the foundation for high quality diagnosis, treatment and care. Every year, NHS pathologists carry out more than 700 million pathology investigations and the results of routine tests are overwhelmingly reported within 48 hours.

GPs and hospital doctors rely on accurate and reliable information from pathologists to help them make the right treatment decisions that will deliver the best outcomes for their patients. They need to be sure they are able to interpret the results of pathology investigations correctly.

Up until now, there has been no way of reporting pathology test results in a consistent, standardised way across the country. Different names in different settings could have meant the same or different things. This has led to problems. A patient may have a test in one region which could be interpreted as a different test in another region and, consequently, might either have to repeat the same test or might not receive a test they need. Without official names for tests, or a national mechanism to agree whether or not a test was worth using, there has been potential for misinterpretation, confusion and waste.

The National Laboratory Medicine Catalogue (NLMC) is the solution to that problem. It has been developed by pathologists, under the direction of the Royal College of Pathologists, working collaboratively with the Department of Health and NHS Connecting for Health.

The NLMC is a list of pathology tests that have been validated for use within the NHS. A team of Pathology Discipline Leads, led by a National Clinical Lead, have defined the tests which are then reviewed by Subject Matter Experts. Each item in the list is coded based on a number of core attributes that make each definition unique. This means that hospital doctors, GPs, nurses and other health professionals can be certain they are requesting the right test every time and can safely interpret the results of pathology investigations even when they come from more than one source.

As well as increasing the accuracy and suitability of tests, the NLMC promotes safer and more effective data transfer and collation across healthcare systems. Standard naming conventions mean there is no ambiguity in either test requests or results ensuring that communication between laboratories and clinical users is completely reliable.

The NLMC content is provided in an XML format and may be used within Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), Electronic Patient Records and Pathology Order Communications. NHS organisations will be able to choose which list of tests to make available to their clinicians dependent on the local Pathology Services provided.The NLMC will be available free to NHS service providers; other users may be charged a licence fee.

Initially, it is planned that NLMC content will be updated quarterly; however, it is expected that this cycle may be lengthened in the future as the coverage of the various Pathology disciplines becomes more complete within the catalogue. Suggestions for improvements to the catalogue are being widely sought from across the NHS. Anyone wishing to contribute should register interest via an email to cfh.nationalcatalogues@nhs.net.

The NLMC Team are currently working with potential pilot sites to identify implementation issues. Any organisation interested in becoming a pilot site should email cfh.nationalcatalogues@nhs.net.