06/11/2025
🔬 National Pathology Week Spotlight
📍 Meet Edd – Consultant Cellular Pathologist, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
Ever wondered what a pathologist does all day? Meet Edd — whose work is vital to diagnosing disease, guiding treatment, and supporting families through some of life’s most difficult moments.
🕡 Early Start: Usually at his desk by 6:30am, coffee in hand ☕ — checking emails, planning the day, and prioritising tasks before diving into the science.
🧫 7–10am: Reporting specimens using digital pathology and the microscope. His detailed reports help clinicians make life-changing decisions.
🔍 10am–12pm: “Cut-up” — dissecting specimens and selecting tissue samples to be processed by the lab.
🥗 Lunch? Often at his desk — still reporting, answering clinical queries, and assessing cell tumour nuclear content for genomics.
📋 2–4pm: Preparing for Colorectal and Upper GI cancer MDTs, reviewing cases and findings ready to present to the clinical team.
🧾 4–6pm: More reporting — every specimen tells a story.
🕯️ 6–7pm: Reviewing paperwork for coroner’s post-mortem cases — piecing together clinical notes, GP records, and emergency service reports.
⚖️ As if he wasn’t busy enough, Edd is also a Pathologist to HM Coroner for Somerset, helping to establish causes of death, support families, and contribute to national research into sudden cardiac death.
💬 Edd says: “I’m lucky to do a job I enjoy — one that’s challenging and constantly evolving as we learn more about disease and cancer treatments. Every day is different. It’s a lot of problem-solving and thinking outside the box — combining lab results, clinical info, and imaging to make diagnoses that help clinicians plan treatment for patients.”
🧠 Their work may be behind the scenes, but it’s at the heart of every patient’s cancer journey. Without a pathologist’s diagnosis, there is no cancer treatment.
