In chapter I “Pathology departments and their role in improving medical and diagnostic services” discusses the structure and role of the Pathoanatomical Service (PS) in improving medical and diagnostic work, so it should be called that. The priority of our country in the PS organization, which began to be created in the first years of Soviet power, is briefly indicated. Definitions of the PS and the Pathology Department (PD), their tasks and those of the centralized PD (CPD) are given.
The organization, structure and operating procedure of the PD are described in detail. In addition, the official duties of medical personnel, medical documentation and research methods are considered. It is emphasized that the organization of the prosector’s work depends on the material equipment of the PD, the classification of doctors and the understanding of the administration of the medical institution of the importance of this service. The author rightly notes the role of pathological material as the most reliable in the analysis of the qualitative side of treatment and diagnostic measures.
Unfortunately, the chapter does not provide information on the size of the service area of the centralized PD. Meanwhile, when organizing a CPD, in my opinion, territoriality must certainly be taken into account, for example, according to the principle of one CPD in a central regional hospital for one or two districts, depending on the distance of the borders from the PD, as one CPD per region, depending on the area of this region, and without removing the pathologist from the control of the hospital administration, while simultaneously subordinating them to chief physicians and chief pathologists. The author’s personal opinion on the need to create pathoanatomical bureaus (PB) is also unclear. I think that the creation of a PB is unrealistic, although this issue is debatable.
