11th January 2010
Severe weather has caused major disruption in radiology departments across the NHS
'Secret army' provides cool solution for the NHS
A ‘secret army’ of home-based doctors have harnessed technology to help the NHS beat the big winter freeze.
Using the latest equipment to receive medical scans beamed directly from hospitals around the country, the consultant radiologists are turning round patient reports in less than an hour while medical staff struggle to get into work through the ice and snow.
Based either in their studies or in home offices, the consultants are given password-protected access to the NHS’ own highly-secure IT system.
Because they have no problem in ‘getting to the office’, the doctors are working at night as well as during the day, providing instant cover for A&E departments which face a rising number of broken limbs and other internal injuries during the cold snap.
The decision to set up a national network of radiologists and to equip them in their own homes – as opposed to regional centres – was taken by Medica, the country’s biggest teleradiology company. In the last week, many A&E departments have reported high numbers of patients with injuries and illnesses that have arisen from the Arctic-like conditions.
“It took a lot of investment but now the nation has a highly-resilient network which is almost impossible to knock over”, said Medica’s Chief Executive Simon Rasalingham.
“The problem with regional centres is that, like hospitals, doctors can find it difficult to reach them in harsh weather conditions. A home-based national network can deliver during a freeze, fire, flood or power cut which can disable a regional or national hub”.
The company uses only UK-trained, UK-based and UK-practising consultants.
- Last month, Dr Erika Denton, the Department of Health’s National Clinical Lead for Diagnostic Imaging, forecast that teleradiology would become a mainstay for the NHS. "We will see much more local reporting and reporting from home", she told a meeting at the British Institute of Radiology.
- The ability to reliably access radiology reporting is essential for the NHS. It is estimated that 95per cent of all patient pathways cross a radiology department.
For further information about this news article, contact John V. Wright, Blue Planet Communications, 07710 454214.
Notes to Editors
MEDICA
The Medica Group partners more than 70 NHS Trusts across the country and today operates the largest remote radiology reporting network in the UK.
Its consultant radiologists report on patient scans derived from X-Ray, MRI, CT, Ultrasound and other medical technologies.
Each consultant is equipped at home with a state-of-the-art PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) workstation. Connecting directly into the secure RIS (Radiology Information System) at the hospital where the patient was scanned, consultants provide both verbal and detailed written reports on the scans they have received. These essential reports enable doctors at the hospital to determine the best course of treatment for their patients.
A&E ADMISSIONS
The freezing conditions has seen a large increase in NHS admissions of patients with fractures and other medical problems that require scans. Each scan has to be reported on by a qualified person, usually a consultant radiologist.
Tony Curtis, Chief Executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was reported this week as saying that severe wintry weather had resulted in a high number of emergency and serious medical admissions. The hospitals had seen “a large influx of patients with broken bones, particularly wrist and hip fractures caused by people falling on ice”.
Hospitals in Scotland were said to be swamped with injured people who had slipped and fallen on icy roads and pavements. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary A&E reported a 60 per cent increase in fractures and attendance up by almost 20 per cent.
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