The West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) has published its Annual Report for 2022/23, providing an overview of progress and performance over the last twelve months. The report highlights the role that digital and data have played in helping make improvements for both patients and staff across the region.
Among “major milestones” identified by the report over the 2022/23 period, are the major capital investment in digital diagnostics, the “significant strides” made in reducing waiting lists, and increased engagement across clinical and non-clinical networks.
In pathology, achievements include the completion of a review of cellular pathology services to inform their development, including the use of digital pathology delivered via the National Pathology Imaging Cooperative.
In procurement, the association notes achievements including the development of the Atamis contract monitoring database to support procurement opportunities, and the use of digital technology in helping the programme identify “considerable savings and enhanced productivity”.
They also celebrate the success of the Scan4Safety programme, which used barcodes on products, patient wristbands and hospital estates, to allow clinicians to “ensure the safety and security of the product/s they were administering”. It further highlights the deployment of the shared Inventory Management System, SupplyX, along with projects such as the installation of intelligent blood fridges and blood tracking, real-time patient tracking, and control centre systems. Benefits are listed as improved clinical outcomes and efficiency through the removal of old paper-based systems and their replacement with digital ones, and the success of SupplyX in releasing nursing time by offering digital management across stock locations, reducing product recalls “from several hours down to less than 10 minutes”.
In radiology, the report covers updates on the Yorkshire Imaging Collaborative, “a radiology transformation programme, enabled by technology”. It highlights the successful adoption of a “common technical solution” in delivering on-demand availability of images and reports at the point of care. Images can now be accessed instantly, and historical diagnostic imaging tests are available at all sites, meaning staff can access images from other sites to support clinical decision making, and radiologists can work from home more flexibly “where service needs allow”.
To read the report in full, please click here.
Also from West Yorkshire, Inhealthcare has been awarded an NHS contract to scale up virtual wards across the region. The new contract will see the company working with NHS West Yorkshire ICB to roll out a range of clinical services, with an aim to make improvements in areas including early discharge, reducing avoidable hospital admissions, and improving overall patient experience.
