Delivering at Scale for the NHS. Caring About Every Single Patient.

Dr Amy Davis is a consultant radiologist who specialises in oncology reporting. She completed an oncology fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH), where she gained expertise and actively participated in several research trials, including those looking at WBMRI. In addition to her clinical work, she is an experienced medical journalist with over 10 years' experience as an Associate Editor of The BMJ. She has also previously worked at BMJ Open as an Associate Clinical Editor, focusing on large research trials. 

There’s a moment in almost every conversation we have with NHS Trusts where the mood subtly shifts. 

Up to that point, everyone is talking about quality, turnaround times, governance, integration, workforce pressures, patient experience. Things that genuinely matter. Then someone asks the very sensible question: 

“Yes… but can you do this at scale, across multiple sites, reliably, week in, week out?” 

And honestly, I love that question. Because for us, scale is never a vanity metric. Scale is about whether we can deliver for a busy acute Trust, and still deliver just as well for a neighbouring site with a different RIS setup, different operational rhythms, and the same absolute need for safe, timely diagnosis. 

At Hexarad, we’ve built our whole model around that reality. Not “growth at all costs”, not “move fast and hope for the best”, but growth that stays clinically solid. 

Why “Large Contracts” Are Harder Than People Think 

Let’s be real: big NHS trust don’t choose teleradiology providers based on powerpoint slides. They’re chosen on how they deliver. 

Because the moment you go beyond a single site, you meet the reality of: 

• different governance structures (and different tolerances for risk) 

• multiple PACS and RIS environments (often within the same organisation) 

• varied local pathways and escalation routes 

• operational peaks and troughs that do not behave politely 

• clinical teams who have been burnt before (and rightly want proof instead of promises) 

  
  

So, being “big enough” is not about headcount alone. It’s about whether a teleradiology provider has the infrastructure, processes, and clinical leadership to deliver consistently across complexity. 

That’s what we’ve focused on. 

Scale, Proven in the Real World 

We now support 150+ sites across the UK and Ireland, working with NHS Trusts and private providers, including some of the largest NHS Trusts in the country, with over 2,000 beds. 

That matters because this isn’t a “single site” story. This is multi-site, multi-pathway, real-world healthcare. It’s exactly the environment where things either hold together beautifully… or unravel very quickly. 

We’ve also crossed a major milestone: over 2 million patients diagnosed through our platform. It’s real, sustained delivery across a huge volume of imaging, under real NHS conditions, with real governance, and real consequences. 

And yes, it’s a proud moment, but it’s also a responsibility. Every scan represents someone waiting. Someone trying not to spiral into what we all know as “scanxiety”. Someone who deserves a result that’s accurate, timely, and clearly communicated. 

This is why the question of large NHS contracts is never just a commercial conversation for me. I’m a radiologist. I’ve sat in the same pressure cooker. I know what it feels like when demand piles up and the backlog becomes a daily clinical risk. 

Our Tech Is Built for Multi-Site Reality (Not a ‘Perfect-World’ Demo) 

A lot of technology looks brilliant in a single-hospital setup. The real test is whether it still works when you add complexity: more sites, more modalities, different operational rhythms, different local rules, different reporting needs. 

Hexarad’s platform was designed to support multi-site customers and streamline operations across large, distributed organisations, including 

• Some of the UK’s largest multi-site NHS Trusts, with some having over 2000+ beds  

• Multiple independent scanning providers who support the NHS. 

  
  

When a provider or Trust is running services across multiple locations, the operational friction can become the hidden tax that drains time and morale. Our job is to reduce that friction, while keeping governance tight and clinical standards high. 

What We Mean When We Say “We Can Integrate” 

When a Trust or system needs support at pace, “integration” has to mean more than “we’ll try our best”. 

It means: 

1. Structured onboarding that is repeatable. Not reinventing the wheel every time and not running governance as an afterthought. Big deployments need a framework that works consistently, site after site. 

2. Seamless integration as a design principle. Hospitals don’t have time for clunky workarounds. Integration has to be safe, compliant, and genuinely operationally smooth. We’ve invested in integration capability that’s designed for clinical environments and information flow. 

3. Clinical governance that scales with you. This is the bit that gets overlooked by people who haven’t lived it. It’s relatively easy to keep standards high in a small setup. It’s much harder to do it when volume grows, sites multiply, and the operational surface area expands. 

   
   

The Difference Between “More” and “Better” 

A lot of organisations can increase volumes. Fewer can do it while maintaining quality. 

The NHS doesn’t need “more reporting” in isolation. It needs reporting that is: 

• subspecialty-led, so the right expertise meets the right case 

• consistent, so standards don’t wobble with workload 

• operationally dependable, so teams can plan services with confidence 

• transparent, so performance and quality are measurable, not assumed 

That’s why we’ve built a model that supports not just additional reporting capacity, but workflow optimisation too. 

OptiRad, our radiology-specific business intelligence and performance optimisation tool, exists because we’ve all seen the pain of radiology services trying to run modern demand through legacy operational tools. 

At Mid-South Essex NHS Foundation trust, one of the biggest Trusts in the UK, OptiRad:  

• Increased reporting output by 12%  

• Reduced turnaround times by 18%  

• Saved £150K per year on outsourced reporting 

  
  

(Also, as someone who loves a good operational dashboard, I’ll admit it: OptiRad makes my inner nerd very happy.) 

Recognition Is Nice, Delivery Is the Point  

Dr Farzana Rahman, CEO and co-founder of Hexarad, at Number 10 Downing Street with the Future Fifty Cohort

In May 2025, Hexarad was recognised through the Future Fifty programme, and that recognition was marked at 10 Downing Street, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledging the cohort.  

Radiology doesn’t often get the spotlight, even though it underpins so much of modern care.  

So it meant a lot for us to be recognised at a national level, and to be the only teleradiology company recognised by the Prime Minister.  

Being clinically led and having built our own technology, we’re proud to be shaping the future of radiology in a way that truly supports clinicians and patients alike.  

It’s a moment that made our team feel incredibly proud, not because we want a trophy cabinet, but because it reflectes that radiology infrastructure and patient-first diagnostics are now seen as central to UK healthcare innovation. 

About time! 

So, What Makes Hexarad “Big Enough” for Large NHS Teleradiology Contracts? 

If I had to boil it down (without slipping into corporate bingo), it’s this: 

We’re built to deliver across complexity, not just across geography. 

That means: 

• Clinical leadership, with governance and patient outcomes at the centre  

• Tech-enabled workflow, designed for the way radiology actually works, not the way procurement documents wish it worked  

• Evidence of impact in NHS trusts and private providers, including deployments focused on reducing delays and improving operational performance  

• Quality and compliance foundations, including regulated, standards-driven operating practices (the “boring” stuff that is actually the most important stuff)  

  
  

And crucially, we’ve kept our cultural compass pointing in the right direction: squarely on getting the best possible patient outcomes. 

The Bit I Care About Most 

When Trusts ask whether we’re big enough, I always hear the question underneath it: 

“Can we trust you with our patients?” 

That’s the real question. And it deserves a serious answer. 

At Hexarad, we’ve grown because teams on the ground have needed something that works. Not just once, not just in a pilot, but at scale, across the messy reality of modern healthcare. 

We’re proud of what we’ve built, and even prouder of the people delivering it, clinicians, software engineers, ops teams, customer teams, and partners across the NHS who push for better every day. 

If you’re leading a large contract conversation right now, whether for a Trust, an ICB, or a regional system, I’d love you to think of Hexarad as the partner that brings both: 

• the infrastructure to deliver at scale, and 

• the clinical mindset to protect quality without compromise.