Extending a project which began out of necessity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to enable at-home reporting for radiology staff, Hospital Services Limited (HSL) has continued its partnership with Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Teaching Hospital to facilitate flexible working for full-time consultants and reporting radiographers, growing the hospital’s initial nine to 10 at-home Barco workstations to 27 with the help of central funding.
“Following the rollout of at-home reporting during the pandemic, many consultants on our team noted what they felt was increased focus, reduced distractions, and higher productivity when given the opportunity to report from home,” said Raquel Tuano-Donnelly, clinical director of radiology at the trust.
“This led to us examining the way our teams work and deciding that – even following the return to work as normal – at-home reporting should be incorporated into our long-term approach to work.”
With a focus on continuity between the clinical and at-home reporting experiences, HSL developed an at-home workspace solution incorporating Barco’s Coronis Fusion 6MP display, the manufacturer’s diagnostic display for radiologists which includes an energy-efficient and lightweight design.
In addition to the display’s 30-inch screen, high brightness and contrast ratio, and wide colour gamut, which help radiographers see even more colours and detail, all displays are also equipped with Barco’s QAWeb Enterprise that helps hospitals manage quality and assure compliance with less effort, lower cost, and complete confidence.
The fully-automated and secure systems support consistent image quality and uptime for all PACS display systems, including those operating remotely.
An ongoing partner with the trust, HSL has worked closely with the radiology team to ensure all staff are trained in the systems’ use and the at-home installations are set up with the same attention to detail and ongoing calibration as their clinically-located counterparts.
High-quality image reporting plays a vital role in the swift and accurate diagnosis of patients with a wide variety of conditions and it is of paramount importance to us – and to the team at the trust – that the accuracy and quality of output at home is equal to work completed within the trust’s facilities
“While the efficiencies and access provided by home reporting are certainly to be celebrated, it is of utmost importance that the quality of reporting and trust in diagnostics remains uncompromised,” said Lee Unsworth, radiology lead.
Steve Leatherland, regional director of operations at HSL, added: “High-quality image reporting plays a vital role in the swift and accurate diagnosis of patients with a wide variety of conditions and it is of paramount importance to us – and to the team at the trust – that the accuracy and quality of output at home is equal to work completed within the trust’s facilities.
“Our team takes the specifications, installation, and at-home set-up of these systems very seriously, paying particularly close attention to accuracy, compliance, and consistency. And, to ensure that this focus on high performance continues even after the systems are commissioned, our team continues to support the trust with wrap-around support for the team to supply ongoing calibration and quality assurance services.”
Commenting on the continued positive impact of at-home reporting, Tom Leyland, clinical lead for imaging digital systems at the trust, said: “Not only has our at-home reporting programme helped to improve productivity for consultants and reporting radiographers, it has also reduced commuting time, increased capacity, and has led to improved job satisfaction which will, in turn, help improve staff retention at a time where radiologists are in short supply.”