HUNDREDS of county patients will receive a faster diagnosis and quicker treatment thanks to the introduction of new hospital technology, it has been revealed.

The new multi-million pound treatment centre at Kidderminster, which treats patients from across Worcestershire, will benefit from a new system being rolled out across the country from this summer, Health Minister John Hutton has announced.

The new system will enable images such as X-rays and scans to be stored and mailed electronically rather than printed on film and filed manually - enabling doctors to provide a much faster diagnosis.

Rather than having to physically transfer an X-ray or scan by hand from one hospital department to another, health professionals across the NHS will be able to access the information at the touch of a button.

Professor Aidan Halligan, deputy chief medical officer and joint director general of the National Programme for IT, said: "This announcement has wide-ranging clinical and patient benefits.

"In addition to patients not having to wait while their X-rays are processed and delivered by hand from one department to another, clinicians will no longer have to hold X-rays up to a light box in A&E to make a diagnosis.

"There will be improved staff and patient safety due to reductions in radiation dosages from X-rays and avoiding the use of hazardous chemicals for film processing."

The system, called PACS - Picture Archiving and Communications Systems - is being established under the Department of Health's new IT programme which has cost £6bn.

PACS technology has already been introduced at Worcestershire Royal Hospital - one of the first hospitals to introduce the system in March 2002.

People in rural areas will especially benefit because PACS will be put into the treatments centre's Minor Injuries Unit and other diagnostic locations, saving many journeys to hospital.

First class

John Hutton added: "The new system will help doctors do what they do best - treating patients - and will provide NHS users with a first class, 21st Century service.

"The digital image will follow the patient wherever they go and will be able to be recalled whenever and wherever they need to be accessed by a patient's healthcare professional.

"Hospitals will no longer have to pay for film, doctors will be able to diagnose treatment quicker and patients will receive a faster, better service."