Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has signed a 10-year agreement with GE Healthcare with the aim of transforming radiology services and improving patient care.
The Radiology Managed Service (RMS) agreement covers 120 pieces of radiology equipment, a command centre and an oncology cockpit. It will see GE Healthcare manage the installation and maintenance services of radiology equipment.
It is hoped the long-term agreement will support Hampshire Hospitals to speed up the diagnosis for patients, thanks to the inclusion of an oncology cockpit and the command centre. The former will help staff to identify potential delays in the cancer pathway by mapping diagnostic demand and capacity constraints. Not only will it improve how quickly patients receive a diagnosis but it will also simplify patient workflow and reduce waste.
The command centre will make use of advanced analytics so that staff have a system that is in near real-time, as well as a patient overview that covers radiology, outpatients and inpatient care.
Alex Whitfield, chief executive of the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our vision is to provide outstanding care for every patient. To do that we need to bring innovation and investment into our hospitals and our clinical teams.
“This partnership will not only give us access to advanced radiology equipment, but it will also enable faster, more accurate diagnosis and reduce waiting times for patients.”
It’s not the first time that Hampshire Hospitals and GE Healthcare have worked together. During the height of the Covid pandemic, GE Healthcare was able to provide ventilators and monitoring support to the emergency departments in Hampshire.
In September last year the Hampshire trust announced it would be rolling out a new digital platform to manage pre-op assessments, Synopsis Home and Synopsis iQ.