Gateshead and Newcastle launch integrated diagnostic service

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have announced the opening of an integrated diagnostic service, in partnership with health tech firm Answer Digital.

Rather than investing in new systems, the trusts worked with Answer Digital to create a solution that connects their radiology information systems (RIS), picture archiving and communication systems, and electronic patient records, to allow real-time visibility and coordination of diagnostic resources.

The Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), at the Metrocentre in Gateshead, which opened in October 2024, is intended to streamline diagnostic services, reduce waiting times, and deliver faster, more equitable care to patients in areas of the country with some of the highest levels of social deprivation in the UK.

David Thompson, head of digital solutions at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We knew that we needed to bring the two trusts together to deliver an effective CDC.

“By combining – and effectively democratising – the diagnostic capacity of both organisations, more patients will be able to be seen more quickly, speeding up the diagnosis of conditions like cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease, as well as enabling monitoring and observations throughout treatment.”

Thompson added that the trust had worked with Answer Digital to develop “a sophisticated data architecture to join up all of our existing systems at our two trusts”.

“This will provide us with better visibility of our diagnostic capacity and most importantly, enable us to deliver care to people more quickly.

“Taking this approach and innovating with what we already had will enable us to maximise diagnostic capacity from day one, deliver timely care to the people who need it and put us in good stead to meet NHS England’s appointments target,” he said.

By integrating systems and resources, Gateshead and Newcastle have optimised their combined capacity to meet NHS England’s goal of delivering 17 million diagnostic appointments by 2025, which was outlined in the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the Covid-19 backlog of elective care‘, published in February 2022.

Patient records from Newcastle needed to be accurately matched and synchronised with Gateshead’s records, and Gateshead’s RIS, the main booking system for the CDC, needed to integrate with Newcastle’s systems.

Answer Digital developed a patient matching component that synchronises patient data by matching NHS numbers and demographic details, ensuring smooth communication between the two trusts.

To maintain patient safety and data accuracy, a manual review process has been introduced for partial matches, and a patient demographic service lookup has been integrated to validate NHS numbers.

The integration allows for bidirectional data flow between the trusts, ensuring real-time updates on patient status and seamless coordination of diagnostic services such as radiology, cardiology, spirometry, and ECG.

This streamlines workflows, with the aim of reducing administrative burdens and improving overall efficiency.

Richard Pugmire, chief executive at Answer Digital, said: “The opening of this integrated diagnostic centre sets a new benchmark for how diagnostic capacity and patient care can be enhanced, providing a model that other NHS trusts can follow to meet the growing demand for diagnostics.”