Mid Yorkshire Cardiology Units improve efficiency

The Cardiology Units in Wakefield (Pinderfields), Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals needed to improve their process for storing and archiving cardiac ultrasound images, which had previously been uploaded to DVD and stored manually at each hospital.

Physiologists working on the units were previously unable to share patient records with other units and between each site easily, which often led to the data being held up between departments. By storing the images manually on DVD, it also took up Physiologist time in locating the records and loading them onto their systems.

The EMC Solution provides one central storage system for the Cardiology units, and is capable of archiving patient data and retrieving records quickly. The new investment means that the units now benefit from quicker access to data, which can be shared easily between all sites and with other departments. The storage will also improve the security of the data, and make it easier for the hospitals to archive patient data.

Alison Carr, Clinical Physiology Services Manager at Mid Yorkshire said “the new storage solution has greatly improved the team’s efficiency at Mid Yorks. We are now able to spend more time focusing on our patients, and don’t have to worry about patient data being held up in other departments. This new way of working with patient data will have a positive impact on patient care and diagnostic waits as we are able to access their files quickly and share them with other staff members easily. Not only can we now offer a better quality of service to patients, but the number of patients we can see has increased”.

EMC Premier Partner, Esteem Systems, has been working with Mid Yorkshire Hospitals for eight years and continues to advise the trust as a strategic IT partner. This new investment, which includes Centera, EMC's archiving solution and the new VNX2, EMC's latest SAN, is the latest solution that Esteem has developed for the hospital in order to improve the efficiency and agility of their IT infrastructure.

Alastair Kitching, Sales and Marketing Director at Esteem Systems said “We are working with a number of NHS Trusts that are investing in new technology to enhance their IT infrastructure and the impact of these investments has greatly improved staff efficiency and patient care. The solution at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals will allow the Cardiology units to work more effectively, and will support the staff in delivering a quality service.”