Diagnexia: Exceeding Diagnostic Expectations with Digital Transformation at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
A case study from Diagnexia
The global shortage of pathologists has posed significant challenges for healthcare providers, increasing workloads, leading to backlogs, and delaying critical diagnoses. To address these challenges, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust partnered with Diagnexia to implement their outsourced pathology reporting service, which evolved from traditional courier-based delivery to a fully digital workflow.
This case study illustrates how Diagnexia’s consultative, partnership-driven approach helped the Trust achieve measurable improvements in efficiency, turnaround, and patient care.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Diagnexia is the UK’s fastest-growing outsource pathology service provider. We deliver best-in-class, subspecialty-led diagnostic reporting through both traditional and digital workflows. East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust faced significant challenges due to the national shortage of pathologists, resulting in diagnosis backlogs and delays in patient care. Diagnexia partnered closely with the Trust, providing a phased and consultative solution:
- Initial Implementation: Established reliable outsourced pathology reporting using traditional courier services, with access to our network of high quality subspecialty pathology experts
- Collaborative Planning: Worked with East Sussex’s IT and pathology teams to develop a digital transition strategy tailored to their specific needs
- Digital Transformation: Implemented our industry-leading digital slide accessioning and report repatriation systems, integrating seamlessly with their Sectra PACs and Apex LIS.
This evolution from courier transfer to digital accessioning delivered exceptional results:
- Reduced reporting turnaround times to an industry-leading 1.5 days for primary reports
- Decreased administrative workload by 2-3 hours daily
- Achieved over 99% compliance with contractual timeframes, setting a new standard for service reliability
- Improved patient care by supporting faster diagnostic pathways with subspecialty expertise
The Trust’s experience demonstrates how Diagnexia’s best-in-class, subspecialty-led service and collaborative partnership model creates a seamless pathway from traditional to digital pathology services—taking performance from good to great while maintaining diagnostic excellence.
Challenges Faced by East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Before collaborating with Diagnexia, The Trust struggled with:
Pathologist Shortages
A national issue causing delays in diagnostics.
Backlog of Cases
Increased workloads led to slower processing times.
Manual Processes
Packaging, transporting, and handling slides required excessive time and effort.
Turnaround Time Delays
The reliance on physical slide transport slowed reporting times and impacted patient care.
SOURCE: Diagnexia
