HSE plans national digital pathology platform integrated with MedLIS
HSE signals a national digital pathology platform aligned to MedLIS, spanning 22 labs and embedding AI to support diagnostics and collaboration.
HSE signals a national digital pathology platform aligned to MedLIS, spanning 22 labs and embedding AI to support diagnostics and collaboration.
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Ireland’s Health Service Executive has signalled plans for a nationwide shift to digital pathology, outlining a national digital pathology solution aligned to the MedLIS laboratory system. The plan covers hardware, software and AI capability for 22 histopathology laboratories across the country. It matters because it would connect Ireland’s pathology workflow end to end, enable image sharing across borders, and create a platform for computational diagnostics.
Published in July 2025 as a prior information notice, the HSE’s intent is clear: build an integrated, compliant digital pathology environment that dovetails with MedLIS. The notice stresses that it is not a call for competition and does not guarantee a subsequent procurement, but it sets out the core elements of the proposed scope.
The envisaged contract could include:
The initial footprint would span 22 histopathology laboratories, comprising eight HSE Centres of Excellence and 14 general hospital laboratory centres. Functionally, the platform is intended to cover the full diagnostic pathway, with an image management system, high‑resolution whole‑slide imaging, and the ability to interpret and share pathology information at national, European and global levels.
AI is in scope from the start: the HSE wants computational pathology assistance with algorithms to support rapid and accurate diagnosis. The hardware set would be suited to clinical environments and infection control, including diagnostic‑grade monitors, whole‑slide scanners, operational workstations and image storage.
Compliance looms large. The solution must meet medical and laboratory device regulations applicable in Ireland and the EU, underscoring a need for quality‑assured imaging, data security and standards‑based interoperability.
The push towards digital pathology reflects clinical, operational and workforce pressures seen across Europe. Digital workflows unlock remote reporting and second opinions, smooth multidisciplinary team (MDT) collaboration, and support service resilience.
In June 2024, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust set out plans to outsource up to 20,000 histopathology cases a year for digital reporting, citing shortages of histopathologists and an ageing workforce. Its notice described a fully integrated digital service providing diagnostic reports and MDT support (read more). That kind of outsourcing becomes far easier once images and metadata flow reliably through a digital pipeline. The HSE’s plan would establish that pipeline on a national scale.
There is also a strong homegrown signal on AI readiness. In July 2023, University College Dublin sought a digital pathology image analysis platform covering both quantitative and AI‑based algorithms for chromogenic and fluorescent imaging (see the notice). And in April 2025, St. Vincent’s University Hospital moved to procure a digital pathology system to enhance remote collaboration and consultation (details here). The HSE’s national platform would give such initiatives a common operational backbone.
Other health systems have shown what it takes to stitch digital pathology into broader clinical IT.
In Denmark, Region Sjælland set out in January 2023 to procure a digital pathology system focused on whole‑slide image viewing, data lifecycle management and tight integration with its LIMS, user management and vendor‑neutral archive, backed by DICOM, HL7 and IHE profiles. The specification also contemplated links to third‑party image analysis tools, including AI, and support for MDT workflows (read the contract notice). The emphasis on standards and lifecycle governance mirrors the HSE’s focus on compliance and national image sharing.
In Northern Norway, a March 2023 prior information notice described a digital pathology system that would analyse, store and archive histology sections, distribute cases, and enable interaction within and across regions. It referenced integration with a LIMS (Sympathy), electronic patient record, PACS and regional integration services built on HL7 FHIR (see the PIN). The MDT and cross‑regional collaboration closely align with Ireland’s plan to share images nationally and beyond.
In England, regional projects show how programmes mature from engagement to delivery. In November 2022, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust explored an integrated digital pathology solution for Lancashire and South Cumbria (market engagement). By January 2023, a contract notice from Lancashire Teaching Hospitals followed for implementation across the same region (contract notice). In parallel, the South Midlands Pathology Network progressed a new LIMS between June 2022 and March 2023, underlining how LIMS renewal and digital pathology often advance together (PIN; contract notice).
Frameworks are also evolving. In May 2024, HealthTrust Europe sought interest in a Pathology Solutions Framework spanning equipment, maintenance and software, with market engagement to follow (framework EOI). For the HSE, a clear specification anchored to MedLIS and EU compliance could help suppliers align offers with national requirements from day one.
The HSE sets out a broad, end‑to‑end scope. That breadth suggests suppliers will need to demonstrate maturity across several fronts:
Across Europe, recent procurements echo these needs. In August 2025, Spain’s Servicio Riojano de Salud sought a digital pathology solution including licences, consulting, digital microscopy equipment, AI algorithms for cancer diagnosis, and ongoing support (see the contract notice). The specification underscores how clinical AI is moving from pilot to procurement.
This is an early signal rather than a commitment. The HSE emphasises that the notice is preliminary and not a call for competition, and that a national solution may or may not be procured. If a tender follows, watch for detail on hosting approach, sequencing across the 22 laboratories, the scope of AI algorithms, and the standards that will govern image exchange beyond Ireland. The integration with MedLIS will be central, as will clear provisions for compliance with EU medical and laboratory device regulations.
For now, the intent is unambiguous: a connected, standards‑driven digital pathology infrastructure that can support clinicians, underpin MDTs and open a route to safe AI‑assisted diagnosis across Ireland.
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