Records of the Joint Working Parties of the RCOG and the Royal College of Pathologists

Records of joint working parties of the RCOG and the Royal College of Pathologists, including copies of the final reports on gynaecological pathology and on fetal and perinatal pathology (1988), and correspondence and papers from a joint working party in 1998 to review the work of the previous fetal and perinatal working party.

A joint working party on gynaecological pathology was set up on the recommendation of the RCOG's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) under the chairmanship of Mr S C Simmons. The working party was not given precise terms of reference but invited to report on all aspects of gynaecological histopathology exclusive of cytology. It reported in July 1988. In November 1986, a joint working party on fetal and perinatal pathology was established under the chairmanship of Professor G M Stirrat. Its remit was to consider earlier recommendations on the same subject made by a SAC sub-committee on fetal and perinatal pathology which had been disbanded in March 1986. The working party produced its final report in November 1988. In 1998 a working party was formed to review and update the 1988 fetal and perinatal pathology report. The party also included a co-opted member to represent the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Its first meeting took place on 11 December 1998, with a final report published in June 2001. The working party addressed several topics, including: subspecialisation and regionalisation; minimal standards for perinatal autopsy; neural investigation; DNA imaging; the role of IT; training; ultrasound; consent; transportation of babies over long distances; funding; HIV testing; stillbirth; storage of tissue.

Permission from RCOG Senior Management is required for access to College records less than twenty years old.

Related material held at the RCOG may be found at the following references:

RCOG/B10/2/40-42 SAC's file on the working party, 1986-1988, which contains copies of the working party's correspondence and the questionnaire

RCOG/B10/11/7 The Sub-committee on fetal and perinatal pathology's papers relating to the report of the working party

RCOG/A13/11 A file of the Deputy College Secretary on the working party