Healthcare professionals at one of the world's leading children's hospitals will benefit from digital imaging tools that will enhance how they assess x-rays, CTs, MRIs and other scans that are crucial for effective diagnoses.
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) will deploy an enterprise imaging solution, including a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), from medical imaging technology provider Sectra.
Modern functionality in the trust’s new imaging system will enable staff to analyse images in new ways. It will also improve efficiency, open-up new possibilities around artificial intelligence, and will allow GOSH’s globally renowned specialists to share their expertise more easily beyond the trust.
Anthony Harper, assistant director of ICT at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This upgrade in digital diagnostic tools will bring a range of benefits to our staff as they report on imaging that informs diagnoses and allows clinicians to monitor disease progression for patients.
"Day to day this will make all the difference for our radiologists, who will be better able to manipulate large imaging datasets using modern techniques - such as 4D tracheal CTs, optical coherence tomography, functional MR urography, and more. We will widen our utilisation of advanced image processing, whilst enhanced ways of displaying imaging information in multi-disciplinary teams will enrich collaboration within the hospital.
"The new PACS will streamline access to imaging from elsewhere, improving efficiency when our teams respond to referrals from other hospitals. It will allow us to examine possibilities of AI supported diagnoses moving forward as we work to remain at the forefront of paediatric imaging."
Efficiencies enabled by the new system are expected to help imaging specialists at GOSH to manage a higher throughput of diagnostic studies. For example, radiology professionals will be able to view and report on images in a single system, which also provides integrated voice recognition, reducing the need to manually move from one system to another.
Reliance on manual processes around external image retrieval will also be reduced, with standards in the system allowing the trust to more easily plug-in to initiatives at integrated care system level, across London, and nationally.
Early feedback from lead radiologists on the functionality and reliability of the system has been highly positive. And healthcare professionals across the hospital are also expected to benefit. Integration with the trust’s electronic health record will improve how images are launched in theatres during procedures, for example.
The system will support a modern mobile radiology workforce, with home reporting being made available through a managed service from Sectra.
Richer information will also become available at the point of reporting. Anatomical cross referencing will aid radiologists when reviewing cancers and other diseases over different scans. Being able to review historical imaging, and layer different scans will support staff as they examine progression of illness. Additionally, cardiology images will also be available in the PACS.
A contract between the trust and Sectra was signed in September 2022 and draws on the Sectra One subscription model that enables easy scalability of the enterprise imaging solution. GOSH will utilise the radiology module.
Jane Rendall, UK managing director for Sectra, said: "Great Ormond Street Hospital has long been a global exemplar when it comes to so many areas of paediatric medicine, including diagnostic imaging. I hope that the deployment of a new imaging system will help to provide tools that will further innovation at the trust. And I look forward to working in strong partnership to share learnings."
About Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children's healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital's pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do - from the moment they come through the door and for as long as they need us.
About Sectra
With more than 30 years of innovation and approaching 2,000 installations worldwide, Sectra is a leading global provider of imaging IT solutions that support healthcare in achieving patient-centric care. Sectra offers an enterprise imaging solution that provides a unified strategy for all imaging needs while lowering operational costs. The scalable and modular solution, with a VNA at its core, allows healthcare providers to grow from ology to ology and from enterprise to enterprise. Visit Sectra's website to read more about Sectra and why it's top-ranked in 'Best in KLAS'.