Northern Ireland launches joined up diagnostics programme
11 Dec 2022
Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care service will combine millions of digital patient images into a single system that will enable it to manage approximately 2 million examinations annually.
The contract for the NIPACS+ programme, provided by medical imaging technology firm Sectra, was signed in July last year and will include every trust across the Six Counties.
It will be the culmination of a decade-long project on the original Digital Archiving programme that enabled the HSC to digitise and connect its radiology and pathology services and will have involved capital investment of some £50 million.
Professional in radiology, cardiology, oncology, obstetrics, endoscopy, medical will all have access to patient images. Images from any hospital will be available throughout the region for secondary consultations, in order to enhance patient care and increase productivity and lower cost.
Staff dealing with patient transfers will have immediate access to imaging captured at other sites and be able to review images better before patients arrive.
In 2018 Northern Ireland Department of Health made a series of recommendations within a framework for imaging services .
It called for NIPACS to be expanded into new clinical areas, and for a single radiology information system and picture archiving communication system to be available across all acute sites, integrated with Northern Ireland’s care record systems.
Sectra MD for the UK Jane Rendall said: “Northern Ireland is an example for the world in integrated diagnostics. NIPACS has already delivered so much, digitising radiology and more recently pathology, and the benefits delivered are about to be extended and accelerated for more healthcare professionals and their patients across the region.”
Pic: Anna Shvets
