Philips UKI launches whitepaper on a new vision for radiology screening for the NHS

As the UK and Ireland moves into managing a long-term relationship with COVID-19, radiology departments are confronted with an ageing population with increasing co-morbidities, a challenging workforce crisis, significant patient backlogs and increased pressures on imaging services.

The whitepaper outlines details of Philips’ pioneering Radiology Operations Command Centre solution, a new model for imaging that eases pressure on acute hospitals while enhancing senior specialist support for radiology teams.

The pioneering model – a vendor-neutral, multi-modality, radiology operations command centre means that irrespective of the imaging equipment used by radiology departments in acute settings, departments can adopt a ‘hub and spoke’ model for imaging, using their existing technology.

Radiology Operations Command Centre connects a pool of imaging experts at a central command centre with radiographers and onsite staff in hospital locations to provide real-time, over-the-shoulder collaboration and support.

With an estimated shortage of 6,000 radiologists, radiographers, and advanced practitioners in the country, it is vital that radiology professionals are supported to meet the challenges they currently face.

Radiology Operations Command Centre’s tele-augmentation of available expertise and resources helps strengthen radiology networks and improves the quality and delivery of services in both the short and long term. The remote expert will allow radiography staff to perform scans with more confidence, precision, speed and quality.

By improving imaging exam quality, hospital trusts can decrease the number of recalls or repeat scans – which are often costly and detrimental to the patient experience and cause staff ‘burn out’.

The Radiology Operations Command Centre model enables the following outcomes:

Those living in communities with social deprivation already face longer waiting times but, according to Sir Michael Marmot’s report into health inequality, this has been further exacerbated by the pandemic¹.

In line with Philips’ goal of reducing healthcare inequalities across the UK, Radiology Operations Command Centre aims to help hospitals deliver higher quality testing to more people across the country.

Alongside Radiology Operations Command Centre, the creation of Philips’ community diagnostic hubs, enables patients to undertake tests in non-acute community settings, increasing access to diagnostic testing and helping to reduce inequalities

Commenting on the launch of the whitepaper, Neil Mesher, Philips UKI CEO said:

“Radiology departments in particular will face significant challenges in the coming years, therefore it is mission critical that new ways to manage patient pathways are implemented.”

“To support radiology services in navigating these pressures and prepare them to manage projected increasing demand, Philips has pioneered a world first vendor-agnostic Radiology Operations Command Centre.”

Welcoming the benefit Radiology Operations Command Centre will bring to NHS services, Stephanie Holden, Managed Services Director Solutions CoE, Philips UKI said:

“Radiology Operations Command Centre has the potential to enable NHS trusts across the UK to virtualise and digitise imaging. Moreover, as it is the first vendor-agnostic solution, it will also foster a spirit of collaboration and expertise sharing, improve training and help maximise value of staff.”