Portable X-ray: could delivering diagnostic imaging closer to home improve patient pathways and reduce pressure on Emergency Departments?
For some patients, accessing an X-ray can mean travelling to hospital even when the diagnostic imaging itself could potentially be delivered closer to home.
This can be particularly challenging for patients who are frail, have limited mobility or live in a care setting. It can also contribute to additional demand on ambulance services, emergency departments and hospital capacity.
[1]Across the NHS, organisations are exploring how portable X-ray and community X-ray services could provide an alternative for appropriate patient groups, bringing diagnostic imaging closer to the patient rather than requiring the patient to travel to hospital.
But the opportunity is about more than introducing new technology. It is about looking at the whole patient pathway and understanding whether delivering diagnostic imaging differently could improve patient experience, support care closer to home and help reduce pressure on ambulance services, Emergency Departments and hospital capacity.
Bringing diagnostic imaging closer to patients
Portable X-ray technology allows diagnostic imaging to be delivered outside of a traditional hospital radiology department, including in patients’ homes, care homes and other community settings.
For the right patients and pathways, this has the potential to reduce unnecessary journeys into hospital and enable clinical teams to make decisions with diagnostic information available closer to where the patient is being cared for.
For NHS organisations, this raises a wider question:
Are there patients currently being transported into hospital primarily to access diagnostic imaging who could potentially receive appropriate imaging closer to home?
This is where a Value-based Healthcare (VBH) approach becomes important. Rather than focusing solely on the technology, the opportunity can be considered in terms of its impact across the wider patient pathway.
Portable X-ray in the NHS: learning from other organisations
Different NHS organisations are already exploring models for delivering X-ray services in community settings. While each service and patient pathway is different, these examples provide useful learning about the potential role of portable X-ray.
*Outcomes are specific to the individual trust, pathway and evaluation methodology.
Looking at the whole patient pathway
The opportunity for portable X-ray is not simply about changing where an X-ray takes place.
Through VBH, organisations can consider the potential impact across the entire pathway, including patient outcomes and experience, workforce and operational capacity, and the wider use of NHS resources.
For an organisation exploring portable X-ray, useful questions could include:
- Are patients being transported to hospital primarily to access diagnostic imaging?
- Are there particular patient groups where imaging closer to home could be appropriate?
- Could an alternative pathway help reduce avoidable conveyance or Emergency Department attendance?
- Could access to imaging in a community setting support earlier clinical decision-making?
- Could the model help release capacity elsewhere in the pathway?
- What would be required clinically and operationally to introduce a different model locally?
- What outcomes would need to be measured to understand whether the pathway is delivering value?
The answers will be different for every organisation. The important first step is understanding the current pathway and where the opportunity for change may exist.
Could portable X-ray be an opportunity for your organisation?
Portable X-ray will not be appropriate for every organisation, patient or pathway.
However, if patients in your organisation are regularly travelling or being conveyed to acute settings to access diagnostic imaging, there may be value in exploring whether an alternative approach could support your local pathway.
Our Care Pathway Team can work with NHS organisations to understand current pathways, identify challenges and explore opportunities through a Value-based Healthcare approach.
This isn’t simply about adopting new technology. It is about understanding whether doing something differently could deliver better value for patients and the wider healthcare system.
Speak to our Care Pathway Team to explore whether portable X-ray could be relevant to your organisation and patient pathways.
[1] https://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/news/mobile-x-ray-service-treats-patients-rotherhams-care-homes
[2] https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/latest-news/pilot-launches-to-provide-xrays-to-patients-in-the-community-7837
[3] Mobile X-ray service treats patients in Rotherham’s care homes | The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
[4] Evaluating a mobile community X-ray service in Rotherham – Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber
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