Seven trusts across Yorkshire are now connected through a system called the Xero Exchange Network, to share radiology images.
Technology from Agfa Healthcare has supported the seven NHS hospital trusts to quickly view patient images and reports.
The technology was also made available at the regional NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, which as of this week the temporary hospital is now being used to support the recovery phase in the region by offering CT scans for patients.
The delivery of the solution was accelerated to support hospitals in the face of COVID-19, enabling the connected hospitals, which collectively cover a patient population of over 3 million, share images.
The trusts part of the network include:
- Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
- Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
- NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will be connected at a later date.
Daniel Fascia, Clinical Lead for the Yorkshire Imaging Collaborative, said “This new technology will transform the way hospitals deliver radiology services to patients for the better.”
“Not only will the image sharing software reduce the time patients spend in hospital, it will allow for a quicker diagnosis and relieve pressures on radiology services across the region during this period of increased demand.”
Adrian Watts, Imaging Informatics Programme Manager, Agfa HealthCare, added “One of our fundamental goals working with the YIC has always been to make all images and reports available to authorised users across the collaborative. We accelerated this work following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid opening of the NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and the Humber Hospital, completing it in a very short time scale.”
“It’s a testament to the partnership approach we have with the YIC, and we’d like to thank the technical lead, all of the PACS managers and the individual Trust IT departments for their pro-active “can do” and pragmatic response that ensured this part of the programme was successfully completed in record time.”
