Swedish healthcare technology company Sectra has announced that its public cloud service has been deployed at two hospitals in Belgium.

The installation comes after the two hospitals, AZ Sint Lucas and AZ Sint Jan, signed an initial contract with Sectra last year.

Sectra said it had worked closely alongside teams at the hospital to ensure a smooth transition between systems.

The hospitals in Bruges are now live with the company’s cloud service, which is based on Microsoft Azure.

Sectra Benelux managing director Bart Thielen said: "Healthcare today needs to be able to cope with the increasing need for diagnostics and specialised care.

"Transitioning to the cloud is the first step for hospitals wanting to use new technology to cope with these challenges, as the service offers the needed scalability and security.

"Many hospitals also deal with staff shortages when it comes to qualified IT staff. I am very happy to offer a solution that will take away some of the stress and resources usually needed to manage the system."

AZ Sint Lucas and AZ Sint Jan decided to transition to cloud services to streamline their operations and improve workflow between the two sites.

Since 2021, the two hospitals’ staff, comprising 23 radiologists and nine trainees, have worked together in a unified association.

Before this, the hospitals were using two separate picture archiving and communication system (PACS) providers, which limited their ability to work together.

AZ Sint-Jan radiologist Dr Jesse Marrannes said: “With an ageing population come increasing needs. We are already experiencing a lack of resources and a heavier workload.

“With more and more exams to report on and a shortage of staff, our radiologists are having a hard time coping with the everyday workload.

“A state-of-the-art communal PACS system could help streamline workflow and improve efficiency.”