
Hayley Williams, Pathology Quality Manager: quality is a way of thinking
Tell us about your role and your career so far:
After graduating from university I started as a Trainee Biomedical Scientist (BMS) in Microbiology in 2006, when the laboratory was at the old Preston Hall site. The department moved to a new purpose-built laboratory at Maidstone Hospital in 2007 and I continued my training and studies to achieve HCPC registration, my IBMS Specialist portfolio in Microbiology, and an MSc in Medical Microbiology.
In 2013 I secured a Senior BMS Quality Lead position at the Microbiology department at Medway Maritime Hospital, completing the IBMS Certificate of Expert Practice in Quality Management. I then returned to MTW in the same role, Quality Lead, in 2018. I was fortunate in September 2023 to be offered a secondment to the position of Pathology Quality Manager and secured this as a substantive role in July.
As Quality Manager I am responsible for ensuring the Pathology quality management system (QMS) is established, implemented, maintained and improved upon. The role includes management of document control, audits, incidents, complaints, risk management and mitigation, quality improvements and key performance indicators.
The role requires ensuring that all the requirements of ISO 15189, MHRA and any other external assessment and regulatory bodies are met. The Quality Manager fosters a quality culture through an education and training programme, promoting the continuous improvement in service quality within all areas of the Laboratory.
Even though my title is Quality Manager, as quality guru W.E Deming famously said: “quality is everyone’s responsibility”. Quality is a way of thinking and approaching day-to-day work in the laboratories for all staff, and staff need to feel empowered to be able to suggest and implement improvements in processes with the aim of improving our service to users and positively impacting patient experience and outcome.
Describe a typical day in your job:
I’m not sure I have a typical day; it is very difficult to describe as the role is so diverse and covers responsibility for so many aspects of the service. A lot of my time is spent answering emails but I also spend time following up and monitoring any complaints or incidents, updating and managing the risk register, completing audits or checking audits completed by other staff are fit for purpose and meet our standards of accreditation.
I am the point of contact for UKAS and am involved in each assessment and closure of any findings raised. I represent Pathology at many meetings on quality and governance and I also spend time training and supporting staff all aspects of the QMS.
An interesting fact about your role:
The role also involves being quality manager to the South East England General Histopathology External Quality Assurance scheme, run by MTW Pathology staff and accredited to a different ISO standard from the laboratories: ISO 17043.
What is your favourite part of your job?
One critical part of the role, and quality in general, is shared learning. Every event in Pathology provides a learning and improvement opportunity, whether it’s an audit, assessment or an incident. I really enjoy being involved in continuous improvement projects and how these service improvements can support staff morale and wellbeing, user satisfaction, patient experience, and outcomes.
I also really enjoy meeting and working with all of my colleagues and teams in Pathology, the Trust and the Kent and Medway Pathology Network and being actively involved in the training and development of staff.
“No man (person) is an island” — managing the QMS is a team effort and I am grateful to be working closely with the great team of quality leads and with the quality officer we have in Pathology.
How would your colleagues best describe you?
This is tough as I’m quite a self-deprecating person, but I think that colleagues would probably say that I’m approachable, hard-working, compassionate and supportive and always aim to establish a no blame culture.
What have you learned while working in the role?
I have been on a steep learning curve and have learned more about the Trust structure and reporting/escalation routes. I have also learned much more about management and leadership but most importantly, I continue to learn so much more about myself. I am looking forward to being able to continue to grow and develop as I progress in this role.
What skills have you developed since working at MTW?
In Pathology, we are not typically patient-facing, but I have been very fortunate to work with some great leaders and teams throughout my career who have instilled in me to always put the patient first and have patients at the forefront of your mind in every task you are performing.
I have learned how to work effectively in a team and how to support and encourage other team members. I’ve developed resilience, and how to actively listen and be supportive and inclusive of others’ voices and opinions.
At MTW I always have been encouraged and supported to continuously learn and to develop my skills in laboratory quality management systems.