The pathology services are an integral part of clinical practice and around 85 million requests for analysis are received annually, increasing by about 2 per cent per annum. In recent years a number of developments have caused professional staff and senior managers in the NHS to consider the future shape and role of pathology services. Therefore a group was set up with the remit to: review the current provision of pathology services with a view to producing strategic guidelines for maintaining and developing high quality, cost effective clinical services responsive to the needs of patients and users, and to report to the Department of Health.