Kent NHS trusts in the UK to modernize patient diagnostics with Sectra in a multi-hospital collaborative environment

Sue Lang, who has worked as program lead for the consortium and radiology transformation program manager for East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The new system will make important diagnostic images instantly available across our trusts to diagnostic reporters and people delivering care. It will also support improved access to imaging across large parts of South East England, where many other hospitals also use the Sectra PACS. 

“Patients can expect their imaging to follow their care journey—whether that’s within our consortium or beyond. For example, cancer patients often move to specialist centers, and others are referred to London hospitals as part of a trauma network and then come back to us, so it is key that we can easily share and access imaging.”

Radiologists and other clinicians at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust,  Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, and Medway NHS Foundation Trust will be able to easily access images such as x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, and more regardless of where in the consortium a patient has had their medical imaging captured. 

Timely and more informed diagnoses and clinical decisions are expected for patients due to improved imaging access, and trusts across the region will be able to pool their resources and balance the workload of scarce radiologists and specialists. Better discoverability and accessibility of images will also lead to enhanced patient safety by avoiding unnecessary duplicate scans and associated radiation exposure for patients. 

The radiology module of Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution will be implemented across the trusts alongside Sectra’s vendor neutral archive. In addition to the initial focus on radiology and medical photography, the enterprise imaging solution provides the potential to expand the program to other diagnostic disciplines in the future—for example, digital pathology. 

The Sectra solution will support up to 1.4 million exams each year across the consortium. It will simplify the processes for multi-disciplinary meetings—with easy availability of images creating efficiencies. The program will also reduce the need for staff to log in and out of different radiology systems. Third-party visualization tools, for example, will now open and close in patient context in the PACS, and PACS-based reporting, integrated into the consortium’s radiology information system, will reduce the need for radiologists to manually access the RIS. The new system will also integrate into the Kent and Medway Breast Screening Service PACS, already provided by Sectra. 

Trusts in the region will also be able to make the most of AI potential, with interoperable applications expected to seamlessly integrate with the new PACS and radiology workflows.

The contract was signed in April 2022 and draws on the Sectra One subscription model that allows easy scalability of the solution. 

Jane Rendall, managing director at Sectra in the UK and Ireland, said: “Accurate and timely diagnosis is key to informing appropriate treatment. Trusts in Kent will become better connected with each other and with others in the region, as they modernize diagnostic imaging to ensure the best outcomes for patients and create the best possible working conditions for radiologists and healthcare professionals.”

About Sectra
Sectra contributes to a healthier and safer society by assisting health systems throughout the world to enhance the efficiency of care, and authorities and defense forces in Europe to protect society’s most sensitive information. The company, founded in 1978, is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, with direct sales in 19 countries, and distribution partners worldwide. Sales in the 2020/2021 fiscal year totaled SEK 1,632 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. For more information, visit Sectra’s website.