Radiology image sharing network launched across 7 trusts in Yorkshire

Seven trusts across Yorkshire can now access radiology reports following the launch of an image sharing system.

The system, called the Xero Exchange Network, is also available at the newly established NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, temporarily set up to manage demand on the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak.

Part of the Agfa Enterprise Imagine package, the network allows connected hospitals to instantly view images and reports ordered and acquired at another site, allowing for quicker diagnosis.

The Yorkshire Imaging Collaborative programme already uses Agfa software in 8 of its 9 trusts, which covers a patient population of three million.

“Not only will the image sharing software reduce the time patients spend in hospital, it will allow for a quicker diagnosis and relieve pressures on radiology services across the region during this period of increased demand,” a spokesperson for the collaborative said.

The network also aims to reduce the number of scans a patient needs through sharing images between sites at a much quicker rate than previously possible.

Yorkshire Imaging Collaborative (YIC) accelerated the implementation of the software to support hospitals in the face of Covid-19.

Adrian Watts, imaging informatics programme manager for Agfa HealthCare, said: “One of our fundamental goals working with the YIC has always been to make all images and reports available to authorised users across the collaborative.

“We accelerated this work following the onset of Covid-19 and the rapid opening of the NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and the Humber Hospital, completing it in a very short time scale.

“It’s a testament to the partnership approach we have with the YIC, and we’d like to thank the technical lead, all of the PACS managers and the individual trust IT departments for their pro-active “can do” and pragmatic response that ensured this part of the programme was successfully completed in record time.”

These trusts have been connect to the network:

• Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
• Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
• Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
• Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
• Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will be connected a later date.