DoH confirms benefits of digital technology

The Department of Health (DoH) has praised the increased use of digital technology within the NHS, confirming that it has “revolutionised” the way the health service captures, records and uses patient x-rays and scans.

It has also been announced that Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) are now being used in every hospital in England.

The technology’s rollout is part of the National Programme for IT which aims to boost patient care through new computer systems and services.

In particular, PACS enables healthcare professionals to view x-rays in greater detail and transfer images across departments.

It also gives clinicians instant access to old x-rays, so allowing for comparisons when treating long-term conditions.

Health secretary Alan Johnson indicated that the benefits of PACS were “massive” and that it both accelerated and improved diagnosis.

“Trusts are reporting that the time taken for radiologists and radiographers to issue reports to clinicians have typically been halved from more than six days to less than three,” he added.

The DoH has recently called on women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to increase their intake of vitamin D over the winter months.