David Wells
Chief Executive, IBMS
The Long Term Biomedical Scientist Workforce Plan is shaping the future of healthcare. Elevate your career, skills and patient care.
As the leading professional body for biomedical scientists and laboratory staff in the NHS, the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) welcomed the NHS England Long Term Workforce Plan and is committed to ensuring that the biomedical scientist workforce will be a key part of its successful delivery.
Our Long Term Biomedical Scientist Workforce Plan presents a bold strategy to support and upskill biomedical scientists in a manner that is safe, efficient and meets nationally recognised standards for the UK.
Talented biomedical scientist workforce
Pathology investigations play a crucial role in over 80% of patient care pathways — a statistic likely to increase with genomic testing and personalised medicine. Covering from before conception to after death, the biomedical scientist workforce has the widest knowledge base of all healthcare professionals. Their high-level clinical and scientific knowledge is critical to enable timely interventions, reduce waiting times and prevent further disease.
Growing and training a sustainable workforce
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration for biomedical scientists requires an IBMS Accredited degree and completion of a laboratory-based IBMS Registration Training Portfolio. We must introduce a registration training grant for departments, expand the number of training positions, enable more biomedical science graduates to get registered and thereby prevent an interruption in the pipeline of talent.
Upskilling the workforce
Extending beyond HCPC registration, our suite of professional qualifications provides a structured career-long training framework from specialist to consultant-level practice. They are affordable, service-specific qualifications that precisely mirror professional practice and expand diagnostic and treatment capacity.
Biomedical science evolves rapidly and
adapts to meet the growing and changing needs of patients and society.
Leaders and managers
Biomedical scientists oversee quality, safety, equipment, budgets and staff in complex laboratory environments. Our courses introduce new managers to specific aspects of laboratory management in a timely and profession-specific way.
Industry and innovation
Biomedical science evolves rapidly and adapts to meet the growing and changing needs of patients and society. We must speed up the adoption of proven technologies and diagnostic tests to deliver the most rapid, effective and efficient treatments for patients.
The route forward
The healthcare system and its patients need the biomedical scientist profession to be recognised and supported. This recognition allows the full scale of its skills and expertise to contribute to primary and secondary prevention, early diagnosis, effective condition management and enhancing quality of life diagnosis.
