One Dorset Pathology network goes live with new lab info system

Three laboratories across the One Dorset Pathology Network have gone live across with a new laboratory information system from CliniSys.

Deployed across the network’s laboratories in Poole, Bournemouth and Dorchester, the WinPath Enterprise laboratory information system (LIMS) should deliver more information to clinicians to help them make their diagnoses and treatment decisions, while minimising the number of tests patients are required to do.

The move to digital pathology will help the network to maximise its scarce specialists, by supporting them to access and report on digital slides more easily wherever they are based. This is possible thanks to integration with CliniSys Integrated Clinical Environment (ICT).

Stephen Harding, head of service at One Dorset Pathology, said: “Previously, a patient might have a test at one site and then go to another, which would have no record of the result. Now, clinicians in pathology can see results of tests wherever they are conducted. That means they might not need to run the test again or they will be able to look at a series of results and find trends.”

The deployment of CliniSys’ WinPath Enterprise makes the pathology network the first in the country to use the cloud-based Specimen Processing module. This can be used to track tissue samples and slides through the testing process. Additionally, the Specimen Processing will be integrated with a new scanner at Bournemouth that will turn glass slides viewed through a microscope into digital images that can be studied on a computer.

Richard Craven, chief executive of CliniSys, added: “Covid-19 has put new pressures on pathology and on clinical services, but it has also shown how modern healthcare technology can support them and help to make them fit for the future.

“One Dorset Pathology’s go-live with WinPath Enterprise lays the foundation for a more collaborative and supportive way of working that will help to transform services for clinicians and patients.”

One Dorset Pathology will now support a wider roll out of the LIMS to neighbouring trusts in the south of England, through Southern Counties Pathology. The network is already setting up webinars and masterclasses to share their knowledge with colleagues in the trusts serving Basingstoke and Winchester, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

Harding continued: “One Dorset pathologists will act as domain experts and support the implementation teams at these trusts to deliver a go-live. There will be some changes to the system to accommodate the greater range of tests that some of these hospitals run, but we are hoping that 90-95% of what is needed will already be there.

“The great benefit of such a wide roll-out is that it will give us even greater opportunities to support each other. It’s very exciting to see so many projects coming to fruition at the same time. When we put them all together, the impact should be transformational.”

The network also took steps earlier this year to create a fully digital workflow for cellular pathology across its site by partnering with Fujufilm Digital Pathology.