Greater Manchester goes live with digital pathology

NHS laboratories across Greater Manchester have begun to go live with technology that will transform how pathologists across the region collaborate, assisting in the timely diagnosis of cancers and other illnesses.

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which hosts one of seven NHS laboratories in Greater Manchester, has become the first in the region’s pathology network to complete technical go live of the digital pathology module of Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution. The same system is already used by every trust in the region to view and report on radiology imaging.

Stockport’s deployment will be rapidly followed by others in the region, as well as a period of extensive clinical testing, that will eventually allow pathologists across the region to swap microscopes for digital images that can be rapidly accessed from anywhere.

Clinical lead for Greater Manchester’s digital pathology programme and trust clinical director Dr Shailesh Agrawal said: “This is so important for our speciality. Cellular pathology is a very physical process that has traditionally required pathologists to be in an office with a microscope.

“Digital pathology allows us to work from almost any location and will help us achieve our goals for collaborative working across Greater Manchester’s pathology network.”

The deployment represents a significant move towards an integrated diagnostic record for patients in the area. Eight trusts across the region have already gone live with the same imaging system for radiology, which now contains x-rays, CT scans, ultrasound, MR scans and an extensive range of other diagnostic images.

Combining these with pathology imaging will provide pathologists with a more complete understanding of the patient, helping them to focus on the right areas in their reports.

Picture: Digital pathology enables access to images from almost any location.

Published on page 6 of the May 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.