Papworth Hospital
Raising standards of patient care
An HP Storage Area Network gives clinicians instant access to diagnostic information and patient records.
Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's leading specialist centres for the diagnosis and treatment of heart and lung disease. It treats over 20,000 in-patient and day cases and almost 30,000 outpatients each year from across the UK, has 1,300 staff, 258 beds and an annual budget of over £80 million.
As the country's main heart and lung transplant centre, Papworth Hospital has a reputation for innovation and leading edge research. The hospital carried out the UK's first successful heart transplant in 1979, Europe's first successful heart and lung transplant in 1984 and the world's first successful heart, lung and liver transplant in 1986.
Data explosion
In 2006 Michael Moore, IT Manager, Papworth Hospital, knew that he had to start planning the replacement of the existing digital x-ray storage system. "Diagnostic testing is becoming more comprehensive and sophisticated," he says. "As a result, the data we have to store is increasing exponentially. Plus, with waiting times falling, patient throughput was increasing and a new diagnostic centre was planned."
With the existing storage five years old, and nearing the end of its useful life, Michael and his team began looking for a new solution. The anticipated growth meant that they had to plan for a system that could scale to 20Tb over the following five years. It also had to meet the special needs of a clinical environment.
"In a normal business environment it is common practice to back off infrequently used files," explains Michael. "But, in the hospital environment, it's very different. The files we are storing are essentially pictures. They don't change over time but they do need to be stored for many years and accessed quickly by a whole range of people, such as radiologists, chest and heart physicians and surgeons. It's essential to provide the very best patient care."
The need for long storage times and fast access led to three key requirements. The first was a fast disk area that would allow files to be uploaded and accessed very quickly, so that the time between data capture and the ability to view it was minimised. The second was a lower cost storage area, for older data. Finally an archiving solution was needed that would allow quick retrieval of data, for comparisons at various stages of treatment over a number of years, for example.
High capacity and bandwidth
Armed with these requirements Michael and his team looked at what was available on the market. As a part of this exercise they talked to ISC, an HP Preferred Partner. "I had worked with ISC for over twelve years and conducted several projects with them," says Michael. "I had always found them to be trustworthy, experienced, quick to respond and that the solutions they delivered were value for money. So I asked them for their recommendations."
ISC proposed a Storage Area Network (SAN), which included a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Virtual Array 8000, coupled with a Modular Storage Array 1500 and an Enterprise Modular Library. Having looked at what the competition had to offer, Michael could see the solution would meet all Papworth's requirements.
"The Enterprise Virtual Array has the disk capacity and, more importantly, the bandwidth to support the high data throughputs from the clinical diagnostic equipment", explains Michael. "The Modular Storage Array provides cheaper disk space for older data, while the Enterprise Modular Library provides tape backup for increased resilience."
Smooth installation
Prior to the installation, in December 2006, Michael's team met with the trust, ISC and the supplier of the Picture, Archiving and Communications System (PACS) to agree the best configuration for capturing, structuring and archiving the data. This was particularly important to ensure the best possible performance of the final solution.
ISC undertook the installation, which took twenty days. It included installing three 42U racks of hardware and configuration of the management software which controlled the Enterprise Virtual Array, the Modular Storage Array and allowed data to be backed up to tape. Following the main installation an ISC specialist, accredited in HP Storage Solutions, spent five days working on the data management software which automated the movement of data between the different storage platforms. Once installation was complete Michael's team undertook integration and testing before the new system went into production.
A clearer view
Initially the new solution was used to store new data from diagnostics procedures, including the results from a new CT scanner that was installed in October 2006. The first in the country, the CT scanner replaces invasive procedures like angiograms. By building 3D images of the area being scanned it enables physicians to gain a clearer view of internal organs, such as how the heart is made up. However, in doing so, it creates more data per image than ever before.
"When we first started looking for a new storage solution, we weren't aware of the new CT scanner", says Michael. "Had we stayed with the old technology, the scanner would have quickly filled up the available disk space. But, with the new SAN, we were able to handle the growth in storage."
Improved care
Since the SAN went into production Michael's team have been migrating data from the old solution onto the new system. Once this is complete, the SAN will provide a single point for accessing and viewing clinical data and patient records.
"The main benefit is improved diagnosis and patient care, because patient records are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and anyone can view them - radiologists, chest and heart physicians, heart surgeons or clinicians," explains Michael. "Even when images are five years old, and have been moved to lower cost storage media, which is very important in a hospital environment, it still only take seconds to access an image. So there is no inconvenience to clinicians or the patient."
Having all the data in one place and accessible will also help with research. "Using the data from the SAN people will be able to monitor the effect of various treatments over time, comparing them to see which produces the best results," explains Michael. "Ultimately that will lead to improvements in treatment."
The SAN also gives Papworth Hospital capacity for growth. "In November our new diagnostics centre will open. In addition, new, improved diagnostic techniques are being developed all the time," explains Michael. "As a result, our disk storage requirements are increasing by 30% a year. With the HP SAN we have scope for further growth, to meet those requirements as they occur."
Overall, Michael is very pleased with the solution ISC put forward and how it was implemented. "ISC did a very good job," he says. "They put forward a solution that met our requirements, the installation went smoothly and they provide a good service. In addition, the HP equipment is very reliable. With one or two exceptions, we use HP for all our IT requirements. I wouldn't have anything other than HP."
Solution Summary
Challenge
- Handle huge growth in clinical data
- Accommodate a new diagnostics unit
- Provide clinicians with fast access to diagnostic information and patient records
Solution
- HP Enterprise Virtual Array 8000
- HP Modular Storage Array 1500
- HP Enterprise Modular Library tape backup
Results
- 24x7 access to diagnostic information and patient records
- Improved ability to analyse clinical data
- Scope for future growth
"The main benefit is improved diagnosis and patient care, because patient records are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and anyone can view them - radiologists, chest and heart physicians, heart surgeons or clinicians. Even when images are five years old, and have been moved to lower cost storage media, which is very important in a hospital environment, it still only take seconds to access an image. So there is no inconvenience to clinicians or the patient."
Michael Moore, IT Manager, Papworth Hospital
