25th January 2010
Welcome for Mandelson’s £1 bn broadband plan
The head of Britain’s biggest teleradiology network has welcomed the Government’s proposal to spend £1 billion on super-fast broadband.
Teleradiology, or remote reporting, allows consultant radiologists to report on medical scans using equipment installed in their own home.
“Improved broadband would not only enable our consultants to provide an even better service but it would also help to bring through other remote healthcare technologies such as telecare”, said Simon Rasalingham, CEO of Medica.
“This would allow NHS Trusts and PCTs to deliver better care more cost-effectively”.
A consultation document, presented by Lord Mandelson on the proposed Next Generation Fund points out that some healthcare services could already be delivered over current broadband.
“But increased bandwidth provides the potential for better quality imaging and smoother motion and sound”, it adds
Medica, which has contracts with more than 70 NHS Trusts, has been able to continue providing reports to hospitals during the recent freezing weather conditions, because its consultants have not had to battle into hospital.
Using the latest equipment to receive medical scans beamed directly from hospitals around the country, they have been turning round patient reports in less than an hour while other medical staff struggle to get into work through the ice and snow.
Dr Erika Denton, the Department of Health’s lead for diagnostic imaging in England, said that a growing number of hospitals were now using the technology.
For further information about this news article, contact John V. Wright, Blue Planet Communications, 07710 454214.
Notes to Editors
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.
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.
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 on our remote Reporting Service, please telephone
0845 0569 750 and ask for the Business Development Team, or email us: info@medicagroup.co.uk
