Overview

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has introduced an electronic test ordering system to streamline the process for clinicians placing orders for imaging and pathology investigations.

Key Details

• The Clinisys ICE system went live on June 10, 2025, serving approximately 2,000 clinical users across various departments, including:
• Wards
• Maternity and paediatric units
• Emergency and same-day emergency care departments
• Outpatients
• Prior to this implementation, clinicians relied on a 25-year-old patient administration system or paper-based methods for ordering tests.

Project Insights

Guy Sisson, a consultant gastroenterologist and chief clinical information officer at the trust, remarked:

“This has been a long-running project that has really picked up speed over the past year. Once we decided on a big-bang go-live, our project team, IT team, Clinisys, and our PAS supplier all worked together to make it work. It was almost like a hackathon, with everybody in a room making it happen.”

He noted that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the system’s intuitiveness and its role in advancing the trust’s digital transformation goals, which include:

1. Eliminating paper-based processes
2. Implementing a new laboratory information management system (LIMS)
3. Introducing digital results reporting
4. Deploying a new electronic patient record (EPR)

Future Developments

The trust is also in the process of procuring a new EPR, with plans to implement the Clinisys WinPath LIMS next year. This will enable clinicians to receive test results electronically through ICE, enhancing turnaround times and providing more information for diagnosis and treatment.

Comments from Clinisys

Louise Dewing, programme manager at Clinisys, stated:

“The rollout of Clinisys ICE at Dartford and Gravesham shows just how important pathology is to modern healthcare and how modern pathology systems can act as the foundation for further digital developments. This implementation took place in a complex environment, but we were delighted to see it through to a successful go-live, and even more delighted to see how it has been received.”

Collaboration in Pathology IT Developments

The implementation of Clinisys ICE is part of a broader initiative within the Kent and Medway Pathology Network, which includes:

• Seven laboratories
• Three pathology services
• Four NHS trusts: Dartford and Gravesham, Medway, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, and East Kent Hospitals University

Previous Digital Initiatives

In September 2024, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust successfully integrated the Better Meds electronic prescribing and medicine management system into its EPR system.