East of England trusts and Sectra unite to digitise pathology
19 Jul 2022
The East Suffolk & North Essex and the West Suffolk NHS Trusts are partnering with Sectra to enable the retrieval and examination of high quality digital images from any accessible site.
The project aims to assist medical personnel to rapidly obtain and visualise images for a prompt patient diagnosis, as well as, trusts in effectively accumulating material for improved capacity and work flexibility, reports Prahasini Selvakumar. Senior staff believe the scheme should further assist workers in offering the best service possible.
Sarah Rollo, pathology project manager at West Suffolk NHS Trust, said: ‘’Consultants can remotely report routine and urgent work, and work collaboratively and simultaneously on cases.
"Improved data sharing with specialist centres will improve the turnaround time in the patient’s pathway. Digital pathology has facilitated digital processes introduction into the lab, reducing manual transcription and improving patient safety.’’
Dr Yinka Fashedemi, clinical lead for cellular pathology at East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Trust, said both patients and the health system would benefit from a speedier process.
She outlined: "Staff can analyse and share samples remotely so patients recieve their test results quickly. It eases collaborative working with colleagues at specialist hospitals to gain second opinions so patients begin their treatment promptly.’’
The software is anticipated to accomodate specialist pathways including those for cancer treatment, facilitate roughly 1.5 million tests annually and enable cutting-edge technologies use such as AI in diagnosis.
Both trusts are the first to implement digitised pathology in the UK via the Microsoft Azure Cloud infrastructure, and Sectra will offer a centrally managed platform to ease the IT and infrastructure obligations. Notably, this enables the trusts to utilise data storage spaces within cloud, which will support the management of large quantities of data regarding digital pathology at a feasible price.
Jane Rendall, managing director at Sectra UK & Ireland, commented: ‘’The NHS trusts are particularly innovative in their use of cloud computing to ensure their programme remains scalable and sustainable. This transformation will deliver significant benefits to healthcare professionals and patients.’’
