High-tech development for hospital (From Yeovil Express)

High-tech development for hospital

5:31pm Tuesday 7th March 2006 in Yeovil By Lyndsey Mayhew

X-RAYS and scans go film free at Yeovil hospitals next week as the latest high-tech diagnostic imaging equipment is put into place.

The new system will be used in Yeovil District Hospital and local community hospitals as the East Somer-set NHS Trust and the South Somerset Primary Care Trust become the first in the county to go live with a nationwide picture archiving programme.

Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) allows the digital storage of diagnostic images such as x-rays and scans and makes the original film re-dundant. Clinical staff will now be able to view images on computer screens and will be able to transfer the images between hospital sites in an instant.

Eventually, clinicians in England will be able to call up images from any patient at the touch of a button from wherever they are in the country, seven days a week and around the clock.

Radiology services manager at Yeovil District Hospital, Adrian Watkins said: "PACS is brilliant news for patients because they will receive their results and diagnoses more quickly.

"In the past, patients sometimes had to have repeat tests because of the time it took to transport x-ray films manually between hospitals. Now their clinicians, including their family doctor, will be able to access images instantly."

The phasing in of the new system started on Monday and will save time, money, and valuable storage space in hospitals, where films currently have to be kept on file for up to 20 years.