NHS "disappointed" by digital imaging delays

The NHS has admitted it is "disappointed" with the delivery of digital image systems to hospitals.

The Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (Pacs) will replace traditional film-based images. They are intended to reduce waiting times for patients as images are available faster and diagnosis is quicker, and to allow images to be viewed by experts hundreds of miles away, wherever they have PC access.

Pacs also supports the storage and transmission of moving images such as ultrasound scans.

But in a statement NHS Connecting for Health (CfH), which oversees the NHS technology upgrade programme, said it is disappointed "that its suppliers have not yet been able to deploy functioning Pacs in its North West and West Midlands (NWWM) Cluster that meet the needs of trusts and their clinicians".

NHS CfH said the go-live dates for the early adopters in the NWWM Cluster were repeatedly rescheduled over the course of 2005.

But added: "The lead clinicians from the first four sites planned to go live with Pacs in the NWWM Cluster urged NHS CfH to change the Pacs system, having worked very hard to make the CSC Pacs solution viable, and following a lengthy period of delay and difficulties."

Discussions are ongoing between NHS CfH and CSC regarding an alternative Pacs offering for the region.

NHS CfH said in a statement: "The alternative solution being considered is based on Pacs technology that has been successfully deployed elsewhere."

It said, so far, there have been 24 deployments of Pacs in Eastern, London and Southern clusters, and deployment of Pacs systems are now taking place at the rate of more than one per week.

In a statement CSC told silicon.com: "CSC is currently in negotiations regarding PACS in the North West and West Midlands cluster. So as not to prejudice the outcome of negotiations it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.".