Six hospitals in the north of England have begun implementing medical oncology software from Varian Medical to help them function as one clinical network.
The oncology network includes hospitals in Lancashire and Cumbria, which are rolling out Aria Medical Oncology software to fully integrate the prescribing, preparation, dispensing and administration of drugs for treating cancer.
The network includes oncology centers at the Royal Preston Hospital, Royal Blackburn Hospital, Burnley General Hospital, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Royal Lancs Infirmary and Furness General Hospital. By using the Aria oncology software they will effectively have a single integrated computer network for chemotherapy prescribing and patient records.
Dr Gerry Skailes, the project’s clinical director of oncology, said, “This will allow a seamless transition around the network and will enable patients to travel from one of our hospitals to another, as they tend to do if they are having both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”
Dr Skailes added: “The result will be a more streamlined service which will enable us to provide better care for our patients while increasing our awareness of the treatments we are providing. It will make it a lot more convenient for all concerned.”
Steve Laws, Varian’s medical oncology sales manager, said, “Aria for Medical Oncology provides cancer treatment facilities with software that combines and manages information including scheduling, prescribing and clinical information for both radiation therapy and chemotherapy within a single comprehensive electronic medical record for each patient.”
Varian’s medical oncology solution is already in place in several UK hospitals, including St Barts in London, Norwich, Stoke, Truro and Romford. The company says the software is now being implemented across a number of other cancer networks.