This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
£250 million in NHS tech to modernise diagnostics
The NHS will receive £248 million over the next year to invest in technology that will deliver more diagnostic tests, checks and scans.
Diagnostic tests are used to confirm or rule out health conditions and disease and over 1.5 billion diagnostic tests are carried out in England every year.
The Department of Health and Social Care says that the investment will reduce the administrative burden on NHS staff so they can analyse more tests, checks and scans while also reducing the turnaround time from a patient taking a test to receiving a diagnosis and then starting treatment.
Diagnostics services across the NHS will be digitalised using the latest technology to improve the way tests, images and results can be shared across computer systems in hospitals, labs and GP surgeries, meaning that nurses, doctors and other clinicians caring for a patient can access these results more quickly and easily, even if they are working from different settings.
The funding will also provide a new tool to help GPs and other clinicians choose the most suitable scan for their patient based on the patient’s symptoms and medical history, cutting inappropriate requests made to radiology departments, saving radiologists’ time and ensuring patients get the right scans at the right time.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Today’s multi-million pound investment will play a big role in levelling up diagnostics services across the country so patients can get faster results and healthcare professionals can get their job done more easily, reducing unnecessary administrative burden and making every taxpayer’s pound count.
“Getting a faster diagnosis for a health condition is the first step to getting more people the treatment they need and earlier on, and our funding will help ensure our NHS has access to the latest digital technology to drive up efficiency.”
The announcement follows the £2.3 billion investment announced at the latest Spending Review over the next three years to transform diagnostic services with at least 100 community diagnostic centres across England.
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