Lloyd: Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about your role.
Victoria: My name is Dr Victoria Chalker; I am the current Deputy Chief Scientific Officer in NHS England. I am not a Biomedical Scientist, but I am a Clinical Scientist, and I have spent several decades of my life working very closely with Biomedical Scientists. I have worked in various areas, such as the UK Health Security Agency, NHS Blood and Transplant, and NHS England. In all of those, I have worked with Biomedical Scientists who are delivering high quality healthcare for patients.
Lloyd: Your current role as the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer, how is that linked to the work of biomedical scientists?
Victoria: We have quite a lot of interactions with Biomedical Scientists because Biomedical Scientists are part of the healthcare science family. In healthcare science, we have more than fifty types of scientists operating. Our personnel range from bioinformaticians, clinical engineers, medical physicists, epidemiologists, to Biomedical Scientists who form one of our largest staff groups; the HCPC reported in March 2023 that there are 27,067 Biomedical Scientists registered with them. Biomedical Scientists work in hospital laboratories, providing services such as infectious disease testing, blood typing and other testing, immunology, and biochemistry, which are important for people in hospital, informing clinicians on the required treatments of patients. Additional areas that Biomedical Scientists work in include histology, cytology, transfusion, and genomics. Tests are needed by the public, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Information that is used nationally for our surveillance of infectious diseases relies on Biomedical Scientists undertaking the tests in a high-quality way and reporting those tests through to the epidemiologists undertaking analysis. Biomedical Scientists also provide emergency out-of-hours tests for services and patients on the weekends and late at night as well.
Lloyd: There has been an increase in awareness of the profession, especially since COVID. However, there is still work to do. What do you think could help?
Victoria: Biomedical Science is a profession that is more than one hundred years old, and we have the Institute of Biomedical Science as one of the longest standing professional bodies with a strong history of tradition, skilled and proud members. The profession can provide an amazingly rewarding career. If you look at the history of Biomedical Science, many biomedical scientists have contributed the development of sterile technique, vaccines and much more. Over many years Biomedical Scientists have taken the country through the creation of techniques and processes that ensure high laboratory quality, which we still use today.
Lloyd: How can we improve the understanding of biomedical science for young people and the public?
Victoria: We can do it in a number of ways: we need to talk to
teachers. We need to talk to universities as well. Not all biomedical
science degrees are accredited; 62% of all BSc Biomedical Science(s)
courses are accredited, so around sixty-four are officially
IBMS-accredited. I think it would be helpful if that was better
articulated to young people when they are choosing their options, with
more information now being circulated on sites such as
UCAS
to make prospective students aware of what is required. If they want to
be accredited as a Biomedical Scientist, or if universities could
increase the extension of Biomedical Science degrees so that they are
all accredited, we would then be able to help students not start
studying before realising that the degree is not accredited. Also, we
need to be better at articulating the rewarding careers that people can
have, to teachers, and focusing on showcasing the great work that our
Biomedical Scientists do.
I think we need flexible entry for Biomedical Science, and we need for
people to be able to enter the profession and be supported during the
work to gain accredited status; this is done through the
four
routes to registration
. We do that in the NHS and other
organisations; we take people with non-accredited degrees and earlier in
their careers and help support them through the process. I recently met
a biomedical scientist who has been supporting the NHS for forty years
and did his A levels and biomedical science degree and other training
qualifications all supported on the job. We have a strong tradition of
training people on the job.
Biomedical scientists do not just work in the NHS, they also support other organisations and academia. Having both accredited and non-accredited degrees is helpful for people to study a breadth of science, which we need as a society.
Lloyd: The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan gives enough description of the future of developing and retaining its staff to better protect and improve the health service. Point #18 of the plan relates to the continuation of science, research and technology, digital and data development. Will there be a greater initiative and support for CPD to ensure skill development and retention?
Victoria: CPD is essential for all our scientists to ensure that they are actively learning on the job, but also working with the most up-to-date quality and safety standards and procedures to translate our research into the care that the patients need. There should be an ongoing focus on CPD for all our staff to make sure everyone is performing as well as they can.
All the organisations that I have worked in, support staff in many ways. For example, the apprentice route for training is open to staff members in the NHS. I undertook an apprenticeship as part of my role when I was in UKHSA, and they are not necessarily purely science focused. There are degree apprenticeships that are science-focused, and they can help you on your route to become a Biomedical Scientist. There is a breadth of apprenticeships that are available in the system now to support the development of staff; we need to help them, help our patients. One person in my team is undertaking a data analytics apprenticeship.
Lloyd: On the topic of equality, diversity, and inclusion, which are key principles that form the foundation of the NHS? What is in place to ensure groups obtain and retain their skills as biomedical scientists?
Victoria: All staff should be supported to be competent in their practises that they are undertaking, and continuous professional development is part of that process. The retention of skills is something that if you are a biomedical scientist is iterative; we are all constantly learning, and science is constantly changing. It is important that we have a diverse and broad community of scientists to bring a breadth of thought that we would not necessarily have otherwise. Everybody who wants to become a biomedical scientist should be supported to consider if it is the right role for them and be supported to obtain the qualifications. We need biomedical scientists across the country. It is important we help people aspire to be biomedical scientists.
It is about role modelling and communicating and there are things we can do to help do that. For example, last year, I went to a school in Bradford where I used to play sport when I was younger. There, I talked to the students about my career to help them aspire to work in science. When I speak to young people and teachers about the breadth of science, not many of them are aware of the whole variety of scientists that we employ in government and in the NHS. We really need to get better at communicating what we do and the scientists we need. We do have a truly diverse community in the workforce, but it can always be improved.
Lloyd: My next question now, as an apprentice, I do have an appreciation of being able to work in the NHS trained laboratories whilst undertaking the Biomedical science degree. Do you think that post graduate apprenticeships will take a greater role going forward in enhancing the knowledge and skillsets of registered biomedical scientists?
Victoria: Absolutely. There are already available postgraduate qualifications for biomedical scientists supported by the IBMS such as the specialist portfolios. Our biomedical scientists, can undertake many advanced clinical qualifications with the IBMS. An additional option is to undertake the STP (scientist training pathway) programme and then progress to become consultant level scientists. There is also an equivalence route for clinical scientists, and this is the Certificate of Attainment by Equivalence for Clinical Scientist (CEP). A CEP can be done in the field of laboratory management as well. Postgraduate training is also open for biomedical scientists to apply for, but there are also other forms of postgraduate education, such as undertaking research or PhD qualifications if that is something that they really want to do.
We have people who work in things like communication of science, or the regulation of science, safety and quality regulation or accreditation services. We even have people who go on if they are interested to take their science degree, whatever that may be, and then undertake law to advise on intellectual property. My advice to aspirant biomedical scientists who want to broaden their portfolio is that there are many different careers in science that your biomedical science provides a solid foundation for. We have also got areas of emerging science where we need biomedical scientists going forward, which are interesting and innovative areas that will help patients for the future.
Lloyd: Speaking of emerging sectors, how is artificial intelligence being introduced into the NHS laboratory settings and how does the NHS support recent graduates to make the best use of AI?
Victoria: We can certainly use improved machine learning and digital capabilities in the science that we undertake. The scope for AI to influence practise is potentially quite large. However, it is going to take time to make sure that these processes are done in a regulated and quality assured manner, that people are trained to understand how they work, as well as make sure they are working as expected with safety and quality being built into any systems.
The NHS is investing a lot in digital transformation, including training staff in AI, as well as digital pathology . In fact, I was sent an AI framework just yesterday, with learning opportunities for staff, not just those in science to understand how AI could really transform what we are doing. You can find out more about the NHS viewpoint on AI and machine learning on the NHS England website. AI and Machine Learning is something that might help transform some of the areas that we work on, but we need to make sure that with everything we do, patient safety and patient care is at the heart of it.
It is important to note that not all biomedical science will be or can be replaced by AI. We still need subject matter experts; not all techniques are undertaken digitally. There are a lot of physiological based sciences that are needed to support patients. I do not want scientists to be put off from undertaking biomedical science because they are not as excited or interested in AI. We need we need a whole breadth of expertise and specialists, including those with digital and AI capability, which is why there are many different pathways to follow.
Lloyd: Do you have any advice for biomedical science students, including myself, who are working to gain skills and experience to prepare for medical laboratory or research work?
Victoria: Reading scientific papers and abstracts is an effective way to get a broad understanding of different sort of research techniques and methodologies, and the structure of how different protocols, studies and clinical trials have been established and set up. If there is one area you are interested in, you can always read around that, contact the lead researcher or researchers on the team and ask them to talk to you about it. Most scientists are quite willing to talk about their own research to others. It is good to be aware of who the experts are in the field and where are they located in the world. Research skills and a final year research project are embedded in all BSc (Hons) degrees for students and apprentices to allow as many students as possible to gain valuable experience in the laboratory space.
Often, it is about increasing your own knowledge, and that is really through learning from others through attending conferences etc. Scientific conferences are important, such as the IBMS Congress . There are local, regional, or national level conferences that people can attend, to increase their scientific knowledge and build a network. If you are early in your career, it will hold you in good stead over a number of years. I am still in contact with people I started working with decades ago.
People should not be afraid to fail; you should not be afraid to ask questions. No question is a stupid question. You can also apply for grants. I applied for and received my first grant when I was a junior scientist to help me with a discrete piece of research. The lessons I learned in going through that application process held me in good stead because it helped me look at how to structure research applications, how to communicate, and how to plan and undertake the study, considering its financial, ethical and governance requirements. For young scientists, there are grants available to support them with undertaking basic level of research to start. If you do not have experience writing grants, there will be someone in your organisation who is experienced at it, who can help you and advise you on that.
Lloyd: Thank you very much for that. It has been an interesting conversation, valuable, not just for me, but for everyone who will eventually read it in this edition of the Bioscientist. On behalf of them and myself, thank you very much for your time; it is really appreciated.