LINKÖPING, Sweden, Oct. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has signed an enterprise imaging contract with Greater Manchester in the UK. NHS trusts across Greater Manchester will thus take an important step in a new region-wide imaging approach that will enable faster diagnoses and better outcomes for millions of patients.
Eight NHS hospital trusts in Greater Manchester are to benefit from a medical imaging solution that will transform how doctors and other NHS healthcare professionals access and review images from patient scans that are crucial to identifying illnesses and delivering effective care. For the first time, x-rays, CT scans, ultrasound, MRI scans and an extensive range of other diagnostic images will flow seamlessly and immediately to appropriate healthcare professionals across Greater Manchester, meaning better access to the right radiologists and appropriate specialists and faster diagnoses for patients.
The new region-wide PACS solution is being deployed in the cloud alongside a vendor neutral archive (VNA) and will replace an ageing system in the region's hospitals.
Once live across the trusts, this will allow specialist NHS radiologists and diagnostic professionals to more easily access and report on patient images captured at any hospital in the region. Clinicians at the point of care will also be able to access images at the click of the button through their own organization's electronic patient record systems, and through a regional integrated digital care record. And the system will provide the foundations to transform patient pathways, deliver a new seamless model of care in Greater Manchester, and to take advantage of emerging technologies - including artificial intelligence.
The clinically led programme is expected to support every person living in Greater Manchester requiring imaging and will cover the 3.2 million people in the geographical reach of the Greater Manchester Cancer program, making it one of the largest imaging programmes of its kind in the NHS and anywhere in Europe.
Raj Jain, executive senior responsible owner for the program that is managed by the Greater Manchester Provider Federation Board, and who is also chief executive of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA), said: "This program for a collaborative approach to imaging in Greater Manchester has required a high degree of cooperation and trust. It will lead to significantly improved outcomes for our patients and significantly improved work-life balance and satisfaction for our staff, as well as productivity and financial benefits that will help us sustain great care going forward.
