Bristol joins up pathology

Three Bristol NHS Trust and Public Health England have signed a contract with Capita and CliniSys for its integrated laboratory information system across the region.

North Bristol NHS Trust, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the Bristol branch of Public Health England and Weston Area health NHS Trust took the system in order to move forward with plans to join up pathology and genetics services across Bristol and Weston.

David Gibbs, North Bristol’s pathology services manager said that it had been a complex procurement which includes delivering a range of services.

“A key requirement was the need to incorporate our genetics service – Bristol Genetics Laboratory – on the same platform,” he said.

“The laboratory information system is seen as a vital component to achieve the project aims, to have an integrated, high quality pathology service that maximises innovation and technology and drives efficiencies and effectiveness. “

The Bristol Genetics Laboratory already delivers genetic analysis services to the UK and abroad. Together with North Bristol, Public Health England is working to create Severn Pathology, which will deliver pathology services to the region.

Mark Orrell, head of service at University Hospitals Bristol’s cellular pathology, said the LIMS system will enable pathology across Bristol and Weston to “work together in a more collaborative fashion than previously possible.”

“This will result in an enhanced service for the clinicians and therefore the patient.  This is a great example of pathology across four organisations providing a seamless service for the people we serve,” he said.

In February this year, EHI reported that CliniSys and Capita formed a strategic partnership to deliver a managed service for pathology.

Under the partnership, Capita’s healthcare decisions business will deliver CliniSys software, and the sensitive data held by its private and public sector clients, from its healthcare platform. It will also deliver CliniSys software as a service over N3.

According to EHI Intelligence, the CliniSys system is widely used across the NHS with 62 customers using the system.

Commenting on the Bristol win, Simon Hurst CliniSys commercial director said the partners in the project will “benefit from increased efficiency and flexibility brought about by the WinPath laboratory information system and the full CliniSys product suite.”

This is just one of several integrated care and sharing projects in the Bristol region. EHI reported last month that trusts in the region are using an image exchange portal to share x-rays and radiology referrals and reports, and Bristol’s Connecting Care programme, which joins up information from across 13 organisations across health and social care went live with a portal last year.