Linköping, Sweden – June 27, 2022 – International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has signed a contract for digital pathology with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. The solution will enable pathologists to review and collaborate around cases in a way that is not possible with microscopes. This will reduce variation and increase efficiency in primary diagnostics, thereby improving cancer care.

The two NHS trusts in the East of England will transform pathology services for a population of more than a million people, following a new agreement signed during the fourth quarter of Sectra’s 2021/2022 fiscal year. The contract comprises the digital pathology module of the enterprise imaging subscription service Sectra One Cloud. The solution will be delivered as a fully managed service where Sectra takes responsibility for all hardware, software, and other IT components.

Pathologists working at both East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust will be able to better collaborate as they move away from microscopes and glass slides to analyzing high-resolution digital images that can be accessed from almost anywhere.
The move to Sectra’s digital pathology solution will support healthcare professionals in delivering timely diagnoses for patients. Rather than having to wait for glass slides to be transported from one site to another, pathology specialists will be able to easily and quickly access digital images of patient tissues to carry out their reports.

Multidisciplinary teams will also be able to view images without delay, and the trusts will be able to pool their pathology resources more effectively to make best use of capacity, while improving working flexibility for professionals through home working.

Sarah Rollo, pathology project manager at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, says: “The recent pandemic has highlighted the importance of being able to access slides remotely and the ability to provide flexibility and resilience in our service. Our consultants will have the ability to report routine and urgent work from home, shortly after it has been issued out of the laboratory. Consultants will be able to work collaboratively on cases from remote locations with simultaneous access to view and annotate patient slides. As a district general hospital, a proportion of our patients are referred to specialist hospitals. Improved data sharing with these specialist centers will improve the turnaround time in the patient’s pathway. Digital pathology has also facilitated the introduction of digital processes within the laboratory, reducing the need for manual transcription and improving patient safety.”

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