Digital imaging introduction complete

Announcing the “milestone” the DoH said PACS, being deployed in healthcare facilities as part of the £12 bn national IT programme alongside other elements such as electronic storage of patient care records, was “already revolutionising the way the NHS captures, records and uses patient X-rays and scans”. PACS replaces conventional X-ray films, and allows authorised users to access X-rays and scans at a wide range of locations, from operating theatres to a laptop in their home. DoH figures released in mid-December showed over 437 million images had already been stored since full-scale deployment across England began in 2004.

Health Minister Alan Johnson said: “PACS speeds up and improves the accuracy of diagnosis, saves time and improves quality of care. Trusts report that the time taken for radiologists and radiographers to issue reports to clinicians has typically been halved.” The DoH says the system’s introduction has also seen trusts report an average first year annual saving of £250,000. Connecting for Health says good progress is also being made with electronically linking patients’ summary care records to a national central database, the eventual aim being to allow doctors anywhere in the country to access an individual’s medical history.

Media manager Mike Cobb said over the next two years the system should be fully implemented across England “at local level”, with a roll-out to full national accessibility occurring gradually thereafter. To date six primary care trusts are participating; as the programme rolls out each trust will need to write to all patients giving them the opportunity to opt out. In the wake of the reported loss of some 168,000 patient records by nine English NHS Trusts just before Christmas Mike Cobb said the software used would employ “the highest security ever deployed in the electronic patient record field”.