Dorset invests in Carestream PACS

Carestream Health has been awarded a contract to supply a Carestream PACS, high resolution diagnostic mammography workstations and integrated radiology information system to Dorset Breast Screening Unit.

Five high resolution diagnostic workstations will be based at Poole Hospital and will allow radiologists to enhance and manipulate images.

The screening unit provides mammographic services to more than 96,000 women across the county. Screening takes place in three mobile units, each of which will have its own image retrieval system as a result of the new contract.

Chris Woodgate, radiology manager at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted that the move to digital is going ahead. We believe that Dorset women will be amongst the first in the country to benefit from a fully digital breast screening service.”

One of the aims of the investment is to create efficiencies so Dorset can move forward with its age expansion programme. This will extend the age of those taking part in the breast screening programme from 50-70 to 47-73 years old.

The service also hopes that digital images will lead to the earlier detection of potential problems, leading to less radical treatment and better long-term outcomes.

Woodgate said she hoped that using the PACS will reduce film reading times from a current five days to between two and three days.

“The Carestream PACS system is so easy to use, which makes it more efficient. This will reduce our film reading times and help with the increased workload.

“If we can see images earlier then we can report earlier, which will speed up the whole process and that will mean we can improve our waiting times for call back appointments.”

Link: Carestream Health