Making a perinatal pathology submission

In the perinatal pathology submission area (after clicking start in the previous step), there are 3 available tabs. If you are using an older computer or laptop, it may take a few seconds for these tabs to load so that you can click on them (your cursor will change to a hand when they have loaded and can be clicked).

This section is for information only. It signposts you to information about the portal and the data submission process, and contains contact details should you need further support.

This section is to be filled in by each perinatal pathology unit. It collects data about referrals made to your unit. Each referral needs to have a Unique Identifying Number (UIN) such as a department or hospital number. This should not be an NHS number, the data submitted should be anonymous.

Then, depending on the nature of the referral you have three options to select from.

Referrals made to your unit which you will complete the post-mortem investigations for.

• Referral date
• Referring provider – The referring maternity unit. For cases where the referral is made from outside of England, just select the referring nation for example Wales

• Post mortem – date when the post mortem took place
• Report Issued – date the post-mortem report was completed and sent to referring provider. When complete this will remove the row from your activity log
• Turnaround – (in days) this will be automatically generated for you

Referrals made to your unit which you cannot undertake and will require mutual aid for.

The fields are:

• Referral date
• Referring provider – The referring maternity unit. For cases where the referral is made from outside of England, just select the referring nation e.g. ‘Wales’.
• Stillbirth/death – date of death. If this date is unknown, please use the referral date.
• Gestational age – at delivery in weeks/days
• Arrival date – the date the baby arrived at your unit
• Notes – optional free text field for information which is pertinent to placing the aid request such as the need for particular sub-specialty capabilities (for example neuropathology) or the request for an urgent post-mortem to facilitate religious/cultural funeral requirements. Do not enter patient identifiable data here
• PM type – the type of post-mortem the parents have consented to
• Sending to – which unit the baby will be transferred to (for mutual aid)
• Transfer date – when baby will be transferred to the subsequent unit providing mutual aid
• Transfer complete – confirmation the baby has been transferred, when ticked, this will remove the row from your activity log
• Transfer date – when baby will be transferred to the subsequent unit providing mutual aid
• Transfer complete – confirmation the baby has been transferred, when ticked, this will remove the row from your activity log

Referrals made to another unit, which have, or will be, been transferred to you as part of mutual aid.

The fields are: 

• Referral date
• Referring provider – The referring maternity unit. For cases where the referral is made from outside of England, just select the referring nation for example Wales
• Stillbirth/death – date of death. If this date is unknown, please use the referral date
• Sent from – the perinatal pathology unit you received the referral/ request for aid from
• Sent from UIN –  the UIN used by the perinatal pathology unit who first received the referral (this should be sent as part of the referral paperwork) and allows us to match their part of the data set with yours¹
• Post mortem – date when the post mortem took place
• Report Issued – date the post-mortem report was completed and sent to referring provider
• Turnaround – (in days) this will be automatically generated for you
• Report completed date – when the post mortem report was completed. When complete this will remove the row from your activity log

In the event that you need to update the information (i.e. correct an error) on a case you have closed, you can simply re-type the case details, using the same UIN, which will update the data in the system.

This section is to be filled in by each perinatal pathology provider. It provides insights into your trusts capacity.

The fields are:

• number of open post mortem activity – how many reports are to be completed where the post mortem has taken place
• number of whole time equivalent (WTE)* in Post - consultants in post, to 1 decimal place
• number of direct clinical care (DCC) to support post mortem activity - A professional judgement needs to be made based upon current workload as to how much DCC is available for perinatal post mortem only, accepting that some DCC in job plans will have paediatric surgical and placental activity in the same DCC. This activity should be excluded from the reported DCC
• Open activity per PA (Programmed activities) –This field is automatically calculated and shows the number of cases referred divided by the available DCC
• Throughput/capacity per day – your assessed actual capacity, taking into account potential constraints (i.e. number of post mortems you are performing)
• Mortuary staffing (non pathologist) – WTE to support post mortems (for example APTs, mortuary assistants)

This sub-section allows you to highlight any operational risks you might be facing, such as staff shortage or illness, storage or post-mortem room availability, and availability of funeral directors for transfers. The fields require a yes or no response, for both the current week and next week:

Demand fluctuations – your opportunity to flag if you are aware of any upcoming fluctuations in referral numbers

Staffing constraints or issues – your opportunity to flag if you are aware of any reductions in staff capacity/availability, which may mean you are more likely to require mutual aid or less able than usual to provide it

Other issues - your opportunity to flag if you are aware of any other constraints, which may mean you are more likely to require mutual aid or less able than usual to provide it

Fragility status – select critical, alert, warning, stable or sustainable. As you select each option, supporting text will appear to help guide your choice.