We look back at this year’s Biomedical Science Day – the largest annual celebration of biomedical scientists and laboratory staff in the UK.
Biomedical Science Day 2024 was a huge success. Biomedical scientists and laboratory staff across the UK – and around the world – came together to showcase their workplaces, colleagues and expertise.
The hashtags #BiomedicalScienceDay2024 and #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare received over 15,000 mentions on Twitter (X), with over 80,000 engagements, meaning potentially almost 1.5 million people in the UK viewed our posts. For another year running, #BiomedicalScienceDay2024 was trending in the top 20 in the UK.
It was a day filled with innovative displays, engaging lab tours, interactive science demonstrations and a lot of cake.
The IBMS held a number of #AtTheHeartOfHealthcare competitions (see box, right, for a list of the winners).
Throughout the day, the IBMS updated followers on what was happening through a live blog, with posts from members and events across the UK.
This year the IBMS Activity Fund supported a record number of applicants – 50 members’ events were provided with a total of £19,200 funding.
A total of 310 event packs were sent out to sites across the UK, after the IBMS had the highest number of applications for packs since the day began.
On the day, the IBMS also shared the full findings of a recent independent commissioned report that focused on bowel cancer screening and illustrates the value that biomedical scientists bring to healthcare (see box, far right).
Across the UK, laboratories took over their hospital social media accounts as biomedical science laboratory staff used them to celebrate and inform their followers about the vital role they play in healthcare.
Because this year’s Biomedical Science Day fell on D-Day, which this year commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings, a special event was held at the Imperial War Museum in London to mark the occasion.
Competition winners
- Best biomedical bake (best cake): Valerie Bocker’s Blood Clot cake from the Blood Sciences team at NHS Lothian, Edinburgh
- Best display/stand: The Greater Manchester Diagnostics Network
- Best group photo with placard(s): Northampton General Hospital
- Best group workplace photo: NHS Blood Transfusion in Wales
- Best individual photo with placard: Alice Evans, Biomedical Scientist at EKHUFT Pathology at East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Best individual workplace photo: Basil Ndikom from Western General Hospital, Edinburgh (NHS Lothian)
- Best biomedical science “under the microscope” photo: Sarah Gibson’s photo of a colonic biopsy with squamous cell contaminant, H&E stain
- Best biomedical science meme: Thomas Faulkner from the Department of Clinical Chemistry at Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
- Best biomedical science video: @nwlpathology's day-in-the-life video
- Best Biomedical Science Day artwork: The histology team at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Oxera Report
The value of biomedical scientists revealed
A new report from Oxera found that the NHS benefits by up to £571m annually in bowel cancer care alone thanks to biomedical scientists.
The independent report shows that the presence of biomedical scientists in the bowel cancer patient pathway benefits the NHS by an estimated £115m to £571m per year. This amount is equivalent to the annual salaries of between 1700 and 8500 specialist doctors, or between 3400 and 17,000 nurses annually.
The report highlights the significant contributions of biomedical scientists in the bowel cancer patient pathway, including towards patient health and efficiency of care.
The findings demonstrate how biomedical scientists’ expertise and efforts significantly reduce cancer patient costs and save lives that may otherwise be lost due to late-stage cancer detection by ensuring patients receive care at the earliest point in their patient journeys.
IBMS Chief Executive David Wells said: “The Oxera Report highlights the immense value biomedical scientists bring to the
NHS. Its findings demonstrate the need for wider recognition from government of the contribution of the biomedical scientist workforce.
“We are excited to work collaboratively with stakeholders to support the development of a sustainable pipeline of talent within the sector, which can help relieve NHS backlogs, reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.”
The report also found that:
- Around 95% of clinical pathways rely on pathology services, where biomedical scientists play a crucial role.
- The work of biomedical scientists resulted in between 2400 and 5600 additional quality-adjusted life years for each annual cohort of patients who receive a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) in the initial testing stage for bowel cancer.
- Annually, biomedical scientists are estimated to contribute between £9100 and £21,400 per cancer patient.
- The report is now available to download at bit.ly/45j9EUJ