Philips and Essex NHS trusts agree new radiology partnership
Three-year contract will aid newly-merged trust in making strategic decisions regarding the replacement of vital imaging equipment
Royal Philips and Mid and South Essex Foundation NHS Trust have agreed a three-year radiology equipment procurement and management partnership to deliver the trust’s vision to achieve improvements across its newly-merged radiology services.
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, and Southend University NHS Foundation Trust merged in April 2020 to become Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
And the new partnership will enable the trust to leverage Philips’ expertise in healthcare solutions and data-led decision making, shaping efficient long-term planning of the trust’s equipment management strategy.
“The radiology profession is experiencing substantial pressure as increase in demand is being outweighed by our available resources,” said Qaiser Malik, clinicall for radiology at the trust.
“It is therefore imperative that traditional radiology departments partner with industry experts to achieve the highest levels of efficiencies and effectiveness in delivering our radiology services.”
We know that with the right partner, and harnessing the advancement of their expertise and technology, it is possible to more effectively serve our patient population
“We know that with the right partner, and harnessing the advancement of their expertise and technology, it is possible to more effectively serve our patient population.”
The collaboration will drive several strategic projects across the hospital sites, supporting the trust in the planning and replacement of radiology imaging equipment.
Delivery of performance management programmes will also ensure the trust optimises systems using the latest techniques and services to deliver quality and improved patient care, experience and satisfaction.
Malik said: “Many of our processes and core business relies on the state-of-the-art equipment.
“The uptime of equipment is essential to our department and any downtime needs to be managed swiftly.
“Through our partnership, there will be many processes like these that will be examined using lean principles to drive efficiency.
“We will be exploring and implementing unified systems and processes that support patient flow, design and throughput across the three departments, while still maintaining each unique site identity.”
Stephen McMillan, Philips’ head of solutions for the UK and Ireland, adds: “Our partnership will support the trust to identify ways to innovate and drive excellence across its radiology service and diagnostic pathway, delivering improvements to outcomes and delivering against its strategic vision.”