James nominated as NHS Innovation Adopter | News

James Woodland, Consultant Healthcare Scientist in Histopathology, at Royal Surrey has been put forward for a Parliamentary Pathfinder - NHS Innovation Adoption Award.

Nominated by Hayley Connoley, Associate Director of Operations for Diagnostic and Clinical Support Services, James was recognised in the Workforce Transformation Award category. This celebrates individuals who are redesigning roles, pathways or training to strengthen workforce capacity, retention or productivity. 

After completing Royal College accredited training for reporting gastrointestinal (GI) histopathology, James gained a specialist qualification that, at that time, had been achieved by fewer than 35 professionals nationwide. 

With the ability to independently report GI cases, James has significantly improved diagnostic turnaround times, reduced delays and enabled more timely treatment decisions, benefiting patient pathways and outcomes. 

Hayley said: “By stepping into a specialist reporting role traditionally limited to medically qualified pathologists, James exemplifies how modern workforce models can reduce health inequalities, address regional workforce gaps, and improve the speed and quality of patient care.

“His achievements demonstrate the value of investing in advanced practice opportunities for healthcare scientists, unlocking new capacity, strengthening service resilience, and enabling faster diagnoses.”

James said: “It was very unexpected to be nominated for the award, but I’m honoured to receive this and have my work recognised at a national level. I’m proud that in my new capacity, I’ve helped contribute to strengthening our service resilience, and enabling faster diagnoses.”

Judging for the UK Healthcare and Life Sciences’ Parliamentary Pathfinder NHS Innovation Adoption Awards will continue while nominations are reviewed to identify finalists and runners‑up across each award category. The awards ceremony will take place on 2 November.