Features published each month
Features
March
Time for the NHS to recognise
the benefits of videoconferencing
Steve
Woollett of Tandberg argues that the benefits of
videoconfencing technology for clinical, training and administrative
uses are so overwhelming that the NHS should take a strategic view
to adopt it at a national level.
Identifying new market
opportunities in telecare and telehealth
The ageing
population and the high demand for long-term care require the delivery
of more effective and efficient care. Technology-based products and
services are increasingly being viewed as a potential solution to
the increasing pressure on care services. This will generate new
market opportunities in telecare and telehealth says Katy
Lethbridge of the South East Health Technologies Alliance.
February 2010
Usability issues of user manuals provided with medical devices
A user survey conducted in this study highlights user attitude, manual
availability, textual complexity and language support as major
issues relevant to user manuals. It shows there is a need to design easily
understandable user manuals and make them available to users. Therefore, healthcare administrators, medical users, designers and device
manufacturers should understand as well as address the usability
issues of user manuals to provide safer and improved patient care.
By Asst Prof Ganesh Bhutkar of the Vishwakarma
Institute of Technology, Pune, India, et al. Feb 2010
Taking ehealth to the hospital patient
Warren Kressinger-Dunn of Jaotech explains why smart terminals
installed at hospital bedsides are the ideal solution for taking
ehealth to the hospital patient. Feb 2010
Solid state storage: improving
healthcare information systems Texas style
Neil Ekker compares the slow adoption of
solid-state storage in the healthcare sector to the Texan rancher
tradition of buying horsepower by the pound rather than suitability
for the task. Feb 2010
Dorset NHS Trust reduces data
centre space and power demand with virtualisation
Dorset HealthCare NHS Foundation Trust (DHFT) had a pressing need
for data centre space to meet growing requirements. However, with a
limited power supply on site, expanding the data centre was not
possible as the main power phase was stretched to the limit.
Virtualisation was the key to more efficient use of servers, power
and space. Feb 2010
It's time for the hospital doctor to embrace IT
Dr Paul Shannon argues that hospital doctors should emulate their GP
colleagues and make full use of IT for the benefits it can bring in
improving healthcare. Feb 2010
January 2010
In search of new healthcare
frontiers
Dr Kathy
McLean of NHS East Midlands looks at how healthcare
providers can make best use of the £220m innovation funding from the
Department of Health to improve working practices and deliver high
quality patient care.
December 2009
Sussex Healthcare Informatics
Service remotely manages 22,000 networked devices
Sussex Health Informatics Service (HIS) has completed a rollout of
the world's largest deployment of Novell’s ZENworks that supports
the network services for some 22,000 devices and 36,000 users across
ten NHS Trusts in Sussex. 18 Dec 2009
 Enhancing
the patient experience through IPTV
IPTV uses a hospital's existing computer network to supply high
quality digital TV channels and video services not just to the
bedside but to any part of the organisation, including patient areas
and staff. The system can supply a range of additional services such
as phone, Internet, patient information, and staff training. It is
also, says Colin Farquhar of Exterity, the ideal solution to the
problem of the national digital TV switchover. 18 December 2009
Secure information systems are the foundation for co-ordinating
health and social care
As our aging population continues to grow, health and social care
organisations need to work closer to provide patients with better care.
Alan Hunt of Hytec outlines some of the current
initiatives for co-ordinated care, and explains how safer information
sharing is a key factor. 14 December 2009
Using tiered storage to address the increasing flow of data
in healthcare
Andy Hardy of Compellent explains the virtues of tiered storage
in addressing the challenge of the rapidly increasing amounts of
data generated by new imaging technology and communications in the healthcare
sector. 14 December 2009
Weaving a web of protection for looked-after children
Over 60,000 children are currently in foster care nationwide.
Whether the child lives with a foster family or in a children’s
home, whose responsibility is it to keep an eye on their access to
technology and the internet? Socialising on the World Wide Web has
become the communication pathway for technology-lovers of all ages.
But how does a foster carer keep track of sites that the child may
be accessing or the range of personal details that the child might
be uploading onto the internet? Robert Fitzgerald of
OLM Systems explains. December 2009
November 2009
Maximising asset value in the
NHS
NHS trusts have come under increasing pressure to improve the
management of several £100m of assets, to reduce spiralling
litigation claims and deliver far greater accountability. But with
information duplicated across departments, attaining a single view
of asset history, including location, maintenance and value is
impossible. It is becoming critical to impose control over asset
management to improve performance, maximise resource utilisation and
minimise mistakes.
Karen Conneely of Real Asset Management, outlines
the need for a single integrated asset register. November 2009.
read more ...
London Borough of Merton adopts elearning to improve training of social care staff
To ensure social care staff could take up necessary training in
their busy schedules the London Borough of Merton adopted elearning
for training staff how to use software for social care case
management and the Integrated Children's Systems. November 2009.
read more ...
Planning appropriateness of care at NHS Rotherham
The NHS and social services in Rotherham recognised the need to
ensure patients received appropriate care and resources were used
efficiently. They chose the InterQual decision support tool from
McKesson to help validate the care being provided and enable
healthcare professionals and commissioners of care to make the best
decisions for patients. November 2009.
read more ...
October 2009
Why the NHS needs a new
generation of chief information officers
Dr Paul
Whatling
of Perot Systems argues that in
order to effectively manage the large changes that healthcare is
undergoing the chief information officer in NHS organisations needs
to take on a more strategic role, providing leadership in planning,
business growth and strategic development. 26 October 2009
Web technology gives
round-the-clock communications for Stockport's adult social care
staff
With a large number of staff dispersed across an array of locations,
how does an adult social care services department communicate key
information and engage with its colleagues? How does a department
commence the roll out of a learning, sharing and debating culture in
a sector that has a plethora of highly dynamic and complex
Government initiatives and transformations? Jude Wells,
service manager (personalisation) at Stockport Council’s Adult
Social Care Directorate explains why open communication and
engagement with staff is of utmost importance in the social care
sector. 26 October 2009
The smartcard way to safer
hospitals
Smartcards enable easy control of access to buildings and IT
systems, and can also help reduce the spread of infection by
removing the need to touch security devices. Holly Sacks
of HID Global explains their benefits. October 2009
Can you afford to wait for eprescribing?
Robert Tysall-Blay of JAC, explores the hidden benefits of
electronic prescribing. These include patient safety, operational
efficiency, auditing and the availability of a range of information
for other healthcare professionals and management.
read more ...
Virtualisation and the other
green computing initiative
Green IT within organisations has to be an initiative that results
in positive bottom-line impact, or it is doomed to failure as a
strategy. Reducing power consumption and management expenses, as
well as increasing efficiency of resources through consolidation and
virtualisation is an effective route to lessening the impact on the
environment as well as improving profitability. In this article,
Owen Cole of F5 examines the technologies that can be used to
achieve both these aims. read more ...
Opinion: Patient portals could
reduce the excessive burden of diabesity on the NHS
Obesity-led type-2 diabetes is demanding ever greater resources from
health services globally. Many clinicians agree that greater patient
empowerment is essential to improve weight and glucose management,
yet individuals typically have little or no interaction with carers
between appointments. While the NHS is reported to have pulled back
from the use of patient portals, a pilot of a diabetes-specific
portal looks set to prove the value of improving day to day
patient/clinician interaction. read more
...
September 2009
Letter from Stefan Pynappels of KM Medical
Software Ltd, responding to the
article, Major challenges with mobile healthcare applications,
on the challenges faced by EMR/EHR systems when used across
mobile and remote networks. read more ...
Delivering 'right care, right
place, right time' in the NHS
Neil Spragg of McKesson argues that putting the
patient at the centre of care, with an evidence-based approach to
determine the appropriate care, can potentially deliver significant
savings, demonstrating that safe, patient-centred high quality care
saves money. Information technology is the key to giving clinicians
quick access to the tools needed to provide this evidence-based
approach. read more ...
Major challenges with mobile healthcare applications
There are many significant challenges in implementation of
m-Healthcare applications. In this article, Ganesh Bhutkar,
Jalindar Baban Karande and Manikrao Dhore
of the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, India, have
categorized these challenges into issues with usability, mobile
networks, ethics and application management. These observations
about various challenges are compiled based on authors’ experience
with mobile networks, healthcare applications and medical usability.
If these challenges are overcome in the near future, then medical
users like physicians and patients will use m-Healthcare
applications on wider scale. read more ...
Case study: Info Cabinet: a search tool for
monitoring quality of hospital care
Info Cabinet helps staff at the Care Quality Commission, the health
and social care watchdog for England keep track of the hundreds of
information sources they need to monitor to oversee NHS hospital’s
efforts to combat superbugs like C. difficile. The system
was built on Microsoft SharePoint Server and uses the Concept
Searching enterprise search product. read
more ...
Depersonalised by terminology
One of the areas that remains relatively untouched among all the
recent technological advances, organisational restructuring and
government initiatives is language; the language that is used to
communicate with people who need support to get on with their lives.
It is a growing issue that, in the large, the sector appears to be
overlooking. Sam Newman, Personalisation Programme Director at OLM
Group, explains. read more ...
Opinion: Information governance in the
NHS — strangled by red tape?
Cliff May of Integralis discusses the increasing
pressures the NHS is facing to manage the large number of
regulations and legislation concerning information governance.
September 2009. read more ...
August 2009
Technology’s role in preventing
healthcare catastrophe
The healthcare system is put under tremendous pressure by disease
outbreaks such as the swine flu pandemic, terrorist incidents and
natural disasters. Paul Henderson of 21C discusses the role
technology can play in planning and managing demand for services in
such demanding situations. August 2009
Case study: CSA Waverley helps Exeter System achieve over
2000 migrations with 100% record
NHS IT at primary care level is underpinned by the National Health
Application and Infrastructure Services (NHAIS), commonly known as
the Exeter System. It covers many services and delivers a vast array
of data-heavy work across 89 primary care trusts with 42,000 GPs,
delivering 2 billion transactions per year. CSA Waverley is
considered to be a trusted driving force behind provision of
hardware and system migration supporting NHAIS. August 2009.
read more ...
Case study: IT Governance helps Healthcode
pass its information security 'medical'
As an electronic health billing specialist, Healthcode handles
sensitive patient information, so it is imperative that it can
demonstrate good information security practices. The company
enlisted the help of risk management and compliance specialists IT
Governance to help it through the process of information security
standard ISO 27001 certification. August 2009.
read more ...
How can e-prescribing and
clinical decision support in secondary care be best utilised to
improve patient care?
Neill Jones of First DataBank Europe highlights the
major factors for ensuring that technology for e-prescribing and
clinical decision support is implemented in a way that supports
improvements in the provision of healthcare, by streamlining and
integrating data sources, engaging staff in the change process and
providing the appropriate tools to improve workflow and patient
outcomes. August 2009. read more ...
Distributed antenna system
eliminates wireless interference issues for medical devices
With the increasing use of mobile phones and wireless devices in
healthcare organisations it is becoming more important to find
technical solutions to the issue of wireless signals interfering
with medical devices and electronic systems. John Spindler
of ADC explains how a distributed antenna system within a healthcare
organisation can remove this problem and provide a more efficient
communications system. August 2009. read
more ...
July 2009
Securing patient data in
primary care
Alan Hunt of Hytec discusses the issues involved in
maintaining the security of the communications infrastructure needed
by primary care trusts. He then explains how meeting the security
guidelines of the NHS N3 network can help trusts reduce their
support costs and offer real benefits to GP practices. July 2009
Intelligent clinical leadership
in mental health
Dr Alex Horne of North East London NHS Foundation
Trust examines why high quality business intelligence is critical to
meeting the unique set of challenges being faced by mental health
trusts and to creating future clinical leaders.
July 2009
The NHS and business
intelligence: towards true world class commissioning
Business intelligence (BI) is a hugely useful way of working with
data as a way to effectively ramp up business performance, and is a
technique that's been used by many successful public and private
organisations. But it remains all too often an unrealised dream for
the NHS.
Using web-based business intelligence, however, the NHS is
benefitting too and addressing the Government’s vision for World
Class Commissioning, explains cancer expert and seasoned commentator
on health and management issues, Professor Roger James.
July 2009
 Avon
primary care trusts plan antiviral drug distribution for swine flu
with digital mapping tools
A joint emergency planning team for four primary care trusts in the
southwest of England, with the help of Avon IM&T Consortium, has
used digital mapping tools to analyse population, travel times and
positions of pharmacies and NHS sites to determine the most
efficient distribution points for antiviral drugs during the current
outbreak of swine flu A(H1N1). July 2009
Consider before you cut
Robert Saxby of Metri UK discusses the challenges that IT managers
in NHS trusts are facing in today's economic climate where pressure
is being put on them to review IT services and save trust
operational costs wherever possible. July 2009
The pathogenic paradoxes of
globalisation
AIDS, SARS, avian flu and now A(H1N1) swine flu: the past 30 years
have seen the recurrence of major epidemics and of threats
epidemiologists thought had been relegated to history. But while
globalisation is opening up a space for new pandemics, is it also,
asks François Rebufat, providing a geopolitical
framework capable of combating them? July 2009
Real-time information sharing
is vital to controlling pandemics
The availability of worldwide air travel enables disease outbreaks to spread
across the globe in a matter of hours. John Poulter
of Informatica argues that information systems should be at the
heart of a radical approach to global disease monitoring to gather accurate
information in real time and share it locally and internationally as
quickly as possible.
This, however, also brings the challenges of systems integration,
communications and data analysis.
July 2009
June 2009
Next generation WLANs: beyond intelligent and thin
Carl Blume and Dominique Bonnotte
of HP ProCurve discuss the implications of the introduction of the new high speed
802.11n wireless network standard for organisations that are
considering upgrading their existing network infrastructure.
June 2009
Harrow Primary Care Trust takes
cardiac care into the community
Dee Hannah and Jonathan Pope
describe how Harrow Primary Care Trust established a mobile cardiac
task force based in the community, involving GPs, specialist nurses
and healthcare assistants supported by hospital-based specialists.
It uses a portable ECG system from Welch Allyn that automatically
stores and analyses recorded ECG data using existing computer
hardware. All GPs in the area can request and receive results
electronically. The service has reduced waiting times and improved
patient care. June 2009
Defining hospital processes
with simple checklists saves lives and money
Simple checklists of surgical procedures have been shown to save
lives and cut costs, so why aren't they applied routinely to
hospital processes? Alan Crean gives an overview of the use of
checklists in surgery, including that launched recently by WHO, and
argues that applying such low tech and simple automated systems
throughout the NHS could save billions of pounds a year. June 2009
May 2009
Pandemic or panic? The
technological approach to tackling public health incidents
Dr Jean Challiner of Clinical Solutions gives an overview of the
role telecommunications technology can play in providing government,
healthcare professionals and the public with the tools to plan,
monitor and manage pandemic outbreaks of infectious diseases.
These include web and telephone-based services such as the National
Pandemic Flu Line.
more ...
Digital pen and paper
streamlines flu vaccination process in Solano County
The Department of Public Health and Social Services in Solano
County, California, organized a large flu pandemic preparedness
drill prior to the annual flu season, using digital pen and paper
technology to streamline the process of treating thousands of people
as quickly as possible. more ...
Telecare at the heart of
preventative healthcare in Sunderland
Neil Revely, director of health, housing and adult services at
Sunderland City Council, explains how mainstreaming telecare to
23,000 people has ensured preventative care and kept people safe and
independent in their own homes. more ...
April 2009
Children’s services systems: a move from complexity to
simplicity
Systems rationalisation across children’s services is an area
that requires much focus. Total transformation is required from a
complex, lengthy and inefficient process to a more simplified and
efficient one. Robert Fitzgerald, children’s
services project manager at OLM Group, raises the issue of a move
towards total systems rationalisation. 27 April 2009
Taking patient care in the community to the next level
David Astley, Head of Health and
Emergency Services at ntl:Telewest Business, discusses progress made
in healthcare technology and how, as further advances are made,
healthcare will extend beyond the boundaries of GP’s surgeries and
hospitals and move directly into patients’ homes. 27 April 2009
March 2009
Experience counts in delivering
large government IT projects
A ‘one size fits all’ approach cannot be successful in delivering
government IT systems. Without in-depth and prolonged engagement
with key stakeholders at every level, providers will fail to
understand detailed requirements, take decisions without recognising
complex hierarchies and, critically, miss out on essential end user
buy in, argues John Sanderson of Hicom Technology.
read more ... March 2009
Solid state storage and
healthcare computing
Neal Ekker of Texas Memory Systems describes the efficiency, energy
usage and cost benefits of using solid state storage as part of an
enterprise data storage system. March 2009.
read more ...
 RFID
tag system streamlines St Olav's Hospital's garment and laundry
operation
The use of 'intelligent' RFID closets and special RFID garment tags
enables automatic tracking and efficient management of over 100,000
garments. It has removed the need for bulky clothes hangars and
paper forms and has resulted in large savings in space used and
costs of the operation. March 2009. read
more ...
Managing the risk of
self-directed support
The UK government's Self-Directed Support programme for social
services will require large changes to be implemented by local
authorities. Denise Harrison
of Liquidlogic discusses the issues involved in setting up a well
defined risk-assessment process. March 2009
The Outside Clinic uses tablet
PCs for home eye examination service
The clinic was in search of a tablet PC capable of replacing its
convertible solution and supporting its proprietary software
application so that its mobile opticians could provide better
patient care and be more productive in the field. March 2009
EHSSB brings electronic and paper documents under control with
centralised management system
For Northern Ireland's Eastern Health and Social Services Board,
compliance with various pieces of legislation, the merger of four
boards, and the increasing use of email had made it imperative to
improve their management of documents and records. The solution was
a centralised electronic document and records management system.
March 2009
February 2009
IT project strangulation in government
Government IT projects are notorious for both their
complexity and for having a high failure rate. Randy Bablitz
of CareWay Informatics argues that the complexity of
government organisations themselves and the resulting
layers of bureaucracy can be the major causes of
failure, and that this is unlikely ever to change.
February 2009. read more ...
Transforming health and social care
As the future of joint working unfolds, some councils are racing
ahead of the game and successfully battling against the challenges
that others are yet to face. Peter O’Hara of OLM Group discusses
the key areas to consider in transforming health and social care.
read more ...
February 2009
December 2008
Motivating ageing research in the UK
Professor Peter Lansley and Dr Lucy Chappell
of Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity (SPARC) at the
University of Reading review the initiation and progress of ageing
research in the UK, culminating in the SPARC initiative, which is coming
to an end after four years of successfully conducting a diverse
range of activities. more ... December 2008
Do new applications always have to go wrong?
Rigorous testing of new IT systems is essential at all stages of
development to ensure successful operation, says Chris
Limberger of Macro 4. Pressure to meet deadlines and a
tick-box culture can result in rolled-out systems not being suitable
for use.
Getting users involved and highlighting glitches early on, and
testing in realistic situations can greatly reduce the chance of
failure, he says.
more ... December 2008 November 2008
21st century healthcare for vulnerable older people — Hull leads
the way in telehealth
New and exciting technology is to help the older generation of
the city of Hull in Northeast England live longer, healthier and
happier lives in their own homes through the creation of an
electronic gateway. more ... November 2008
The public sector's Universal Sledgehammer
For the public sector to be more effective it must recognise that
it needs practical answers to real-world problems, and not aim for
what is the unattainable ideal solution for an ideal world, says Peter Latchford
of Black Radley. more ... November 2008
Lipstick on a Pig — the common approach to security
Calum Macleod of Cyber-Ark lists some basic
security measures for organisations to ensure that adequate controls
are put in place to ensure that sensitive data is protected.
more ... November 2008
October 2008
Doing more for less with disk-to-disk backup
Jon Leary, of CSA Waverley explains the technological advantages of disk-based backup systems
that are persuading large numbers of organisations to move away from
tape.
October 2008
How can technology adoption be speeded up in the NHS?
Iestyn Williams, of the Health Services Management Centre,
University of Birmingham, discusses the reasons for the slow uptake of
medical technology in the NHS in England and how to overcome the
barriers to adoption. October 2008
(First published on Medical Technology Business
Europe, www.mtbeurope.info,
in June 2008)
Personal finance for NHS trusts: a masterclass in patient-level
costing
Fiona Boyle of Southampton University Hospital Trust and David
Beeson of Ardentia discuss why access to patient-level costing is
essential for NHS trusts to match resources to income and ensure
strong financial management. October 2008.
read more ...
Portsmouth City Council improves financial control for social
care
Portsmouth City Council has eliminated the paper trail for
billing social care services by integrating the social care and
council financial systems using Anite's SWIFT financials. Social
services Staff can use laptops to update financial information in
the field, enabling automated invoicing. Processes are streamlined,
errors have been reduced and costs saved. October 2008.
read more ...
Safer intensive care prescribing: engaging users in the
implementation of an electronic prescribing system
Kathryn Went of the University of Dundee reports on an
investigation to see if an electronic prescribing system designed
specifically to reduce errors would lead to fewer errors in
prescribing medicines in a secondary care setting compared to paper
prescription charts. It found that the level of compliance with
national standards was significantly higher with the electronic
system and it resulted in significantly fewer prescribing errors.
October 2008. read more ...
Tackling the PACS data explosion
The high data storage requirements of digital imaging presents
significant IT management problems for hospitals. Charles Mallio of BridgeHead Software
discusses the issues of cost, energy use, backup, archiving and
compliance. October 2008. read more ...
Increasing storage efficiency with virtualization
Chris Farey of StorMagic explains the efficiency, flexibility
and cost-saving benefits of aggregating existing storage on multiple
servers into a virtual storage pool. October 2008.
read more ...
September 2008
The ultimate data deduplication FAQ
Philip Turner of Data Domain gives a comprehensive guide to
technical aspects of data deduplication with 13 questions and
answers covering topics ranging from the need for deduplication,
different approaches to achieving it to disaster recovery, data
safety and system performance.
September 2008
NHS Direct breaks new ground with innovative ventures
An overview of the innovative and award-winning services NHS
Direct has developed based on its expertise with telephone-based
systems to supply healthcare services for patients and the general
public.
September 2008
Identity and access management in the NHS — improving efficiency
and security around clinical data
Providing secure and efficient access to IT systems in a complex
organisation such as the NHS is a difficult undertaking. Wayne Parslow,
of Imprivata gives an overview of the issues involved and the
measures an NHS trust can take. September 2008
July 2008
Self-service storage: has
its moment arrived?
Geoff Hough of 3PAR wonders why the provisioning of storage in data
centres is done in such an inefficient way and lays out the
technology path for developing self-service storage systems that
would make it easier, more efficient and cost-effective for data
centre users to manage their storage. July 2008
Storage security — who
cares?
The need for business continuity and compliance with regulations
make it increasingly important for organisations to make storage
security a high priority. Bjarne Madsen of the Storage
Networking Industry Association discusses the issues and outlines
the elements of good storage security. July 2008
The Gloucestershire virtual school
for children in care
Gloucestershire County Council’s virtual school is responsible for
over 400 children in care from 5-19 years of age. Online classes
were set up in order to help the youngsters achieve as much as other
pupils in education. The virtual school has no physical site and few teachers, but offers individual
online learning programmes with encouraging results. Head Teacher of
the Virtual School, Jane Featherstone explains how. July 2008.
read more ...
Only one copy! How to deal with data
duplication
Unnecessary duplication of data is a common problem in the digital
world. Glyn Bowden of the Data Management Forum outlines the
options for overcoming the problem. July 2008.
read more ...
The green data centre
Phil Andrews of Cisco discusses ways to improve efficiency of
server usage, reducing energy requirements and increasing efficiency
of storage resources. July 2008. read more
...
Healthcare 2030 — how can technology
help?
Bill McAvoy of Quicksilva looks at the changes that will be needed
in the provision of healthcare in the next decades. With the UK’s
healthcare needs changing rapidly how can technology help maximise
resources and cope with an aging and less healthy population? July
2008. read more ...
Telecare puts cardiology expertise
in the heart of Southampton's primary care
Chris Webb of Southampton Primary Care Trust outlines how how
a cardiac telemedicine service enabled the Trust to monitor
patients' weight and ECGs in primary care and provide a more
accessible and timely care for the patients. July 2008.
read more ...
RFID wristbands track patients safely through surgery
Consultant Surgeon David Morgan describes the development of a
patient wristband system that uses wireless tags to identify and
track patients going into surgery, ensure theatre processes are
carried out correctly prior to surgery and improve surgery workflow. The
efficiency of the system enabled surgeons to increase the number of
operations they could perform and the improved safety has the
potential to reduce the costs of clinical negligence claims in
hospitals. July 2008. read more ...
June 2008
Integrating disparate computer systems into the NHS
Ann Wrightson from the CSW Group Technology
Office looks at current thinking in the international
interoperability community on strategies for coping with the
problems of integrating the diverse computer systems in use in
healthcare services. June 2008. read more
...
May 2008
Equipment location tracking in hospitals
Roger Hockaday of Aruba Networks describes how real-time location
services can improve the efficiency of equipment management in
hospitals. May 2008. read more ...
HFEA unveils new audience-centred website
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
needed to shift the focus of its website to cater for an
ever-increasing audience, as well as ensure 100% stability at times
of peak traffic. After a detailed site review, web design experts
Precedent were selected to transform the site and a content
management system from Red Dot was chosen to streamline management
of the site. May 2008. read more...
 Multimedia PACS networks healthcare services on the Balearic
Islands
All public hospitals and about 80 primary health centres
in the Spanish
region of Islas Baleares are building the foundation of a health
service network which is — with its scope and depth of integration —
unique in Europe. May 2008. read
more ...
Managed service keeps Newham's networks running
In an acute hospital environment network downtime, however small,
can have serious consequences. Continuously available IT systems are
critical in enabling the infrastructure to support medical and
administrative staff. Newham University Hospital NHS Trust chose a
network management service to ensure the availability, speed and
reliability of an IT infrastructure capable of supporting some 5000
healthcare staff. May 2008. read more ...
Selecting and managing inhouse trainers at Heatherwood & Wexham
Hospitals
On adopting new digital radiology systems, Heatherwood and Wexham
Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust identified a problem with
training enough of its staff to use the new systems. The Trust
rolled out a 'training cascade'
programme with minimum disruption to existing services. The Trust can
now offer a high quality diagnostic imaging service and has the
capability to support existing and new staff to use the systems. May 2008.
read more ...
Home is where the best heart care is
Joshua Rowe, of telemedicine specialist Broomwell Healthwatch,
explains how a cardiac telemedicine service can improve patient care
whilst cutting the cost of congestive heart failure (CHF). May 2008.
read more ...
April 2008
The Doctor's viewpoint: Intelligent
medical IT
Dr Sebastian Zeki gives a personal insight into life on the front line
for a user of hospital IT systems. This month he gives his five
basic principles for the design of successful IT systems.
April 2008.
read more ...
Using
GIS to get foundation trust membership right from the start
Paul Smith of Active Solutions Europe discusses the
applications of geographic and demographic information in the pre-
and post- authorisation phases of foundation trusts. April 2008.
read more ...
18 weeks… and counting
As the 18-week referral-to-treatment deadline for the NHS gets
closer , David Beeson of Ardentia discusses the issues that NHS
trusts face and how they can best meet reporting requirements to
ensure compliance and guarantee the best possible access to care.
April 2008. read more ...
West London Mental Health Trust
optimises IT help desk support
To support 2,500 members of staff across 30 sites, help desk
optimisation was needed to improve service delivery. IT business
management (ITBM) software has enabled the trust to customise
processes around the requirements of staff and monitor and analyse
work performed by the support team, reducing human error while
increasing the quality of service. read
more ...
Nottingham City Council delivers community-level geographical
information
Nottingham City Council is using geographic information systems
to present strategic partner data online in a localised, interactive
and eye-catching graphical format, supporting evidence-based
decision making and reporting at the community level. April 2008.
read more ...
Elearning: the solution to the NHS’s training shortfall?
Ian Cockerill of Adobe Systems reviews the role that modern elearning programs
could play in providing effective and efficient tools for
time-pressed NHS staff learn to the correct procedures for safely
administering drugs to children. April 2008. read
more ...
Automated referrals reduce waiting
times for North Staffordshire orthopaedic service
Paper-based methods were leading to long delays in getting patients
referred to musculoskeletal services and inefficiencies in managing
records. The development of an electronic referral and discharge
system for its SMASHERS project reduced referral time to hours, and
streamlined document management. April 2008.
read more ...
March 2008
The National Library for Health — an architecture for knowledge
discovery to delivery
Ian McKinnell Head of Development at the National Library for Health
summarises the achievements of the Library in its aim to build a
modern, networked library service that links users to both digital
and physical library services, putting knowledge to work to
transform patient care and public health.
March 2008. read more...
Technology and training go hand-in-hand
Chris Davies for Steljes Ltd, explores the vital role technology
plays in training a new generation of healthcare professionals.
March 2008. read more...
A finger on the pulse
of security
Jim Fulton of DigitalPersona discusses the advantages of
biometric security for authorising logon to IT systems. March 2008.
read more ...
The Doctor's viewpoint:
What the bleep!
Dr Sebastian Zeki gives a personal insight into life on the front
line for a user of hospital ICT systems. This month he looks at the
inefficient but ubiquitous hospital bleeper. March 2008.
read more ...
First steps towards fully integrated working in the London
Borough of Newham
Multi-agency information sharing and data matching issues have
recently raised serious concerns throughout the public sector.
Acknowledging the importance of integrated working in improving
outcomes for children and young people, the London Borough of Newham
sought a solution to address the inefficiencies of pre-existing
disparate systems. March 2008. read more
...
February 2008
Creative server virtualisation gives Leeds trust business
continuity
Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust has consolidated a large
number of separate
servers into a virtualised environment, moved to a centralised SAN
structure for storage and improved a remote disaster-recovery site,
re-using some of the original servers. The Trust now enjoys an IT structure that supports future
growth and change requirements as well as providing critical business
continuity.
February 2008. read more ... Technology-assisted supported living for people with autism in
Waltham Forest
The Waltham Forest supported living scheme provides self-contained flats with
staff on-call 24-hours a day and a combination of safety-design
features, assistive technology and telecare technology to enable
people affected by autism to live independently and enjoy a more
active role in the community. February 2008.
read more ...
Opinion: Information-sharing lessons from the
Victoria Climbié case
Andrew Meiner of Cambio Healthcare
Systems discusses the importance of interoperability and information
sharing in providing complete care across the healthcare
landscape.
February 2008. read more ...
Moving care closer to home
Healthcare policy in the UK is changing from providing care in acute
hospitals to providing it closer to home. Implementing this policy
requires changes in the way care is commissioned. The NHS Institute
for Innovation and Improvement has developed a new range of products
to help healthcare commissioners plan and deliver the changes
required. February 2008. read more ...
Touchscreen self check-in system keeps GP queues moving
One way of saving time at check-in is to let patients check
themselves in using a touchscreen linked to the GP practice software
that presents a series of questions to check identity and gives a
colour code that alerts the patient when the doctor is ready.
February 2008. read more ...
Managing disease outbreaks with information technology
Disease outbreaks can have significant effects not just on the
people infected, but on business and the social and technological
infrastructure. Dr Dennis McShane of Clinical Solutions
describes how information technology can help both government and
the public manage disease outbreaks. read
more ...
Listening to the sound of success can overcome scepticism of
screening programmes
Screening programmes allow early identification of
health problems and enable resources to be targeted more
appropriately. The NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme is one of
the most successful screening programmes in the NHS, and the most
advanced of its type in the world. David Meaden of Northgate
Public Services describes the crucial role of the information system
that underpins the Programme. read more
... Designing a digital home for older people
Technology can have a big impact on the health and well-being of
older people. Very few
electronic products for use in the home, however, are designed for
ease of use by older people eg TVs, phones, mobile phones, radios. With the rapidly
aging population in
all developed countries it even makes economic sense for companies
to design specifically for this market. Chris Millington
of Doro UK, outlines the key factors that product designers should consider.
read more ...
Enabling self-directed adult care
The Putting People First framework for adult care announced in
December 2007 will lead to large changes in the provision of care in
England. Denise Harrison, Director at Liquidlogic outlines
the challenges facing all parties involved in the care process and
the role of technology as an enabler for delivering care.
read more ...
The dangers of privileged password management — who’s the next
Société Générale?
Calum Macleod, European Director of Cyber-Ark explains how
weaknesses in password security can lead to huge financial losses
and the downfall of a large organisation. A warning that could be
applied to any public or private sector organisation.
read more ...
Design of a fully client-based electronic attendance
registration system in a UK district hospital
Dr Michael Ogundele, Dr Baljinder Singh and Dr Stella Imong of Torbay Hospital have developed an
easy-to-use and effective web-based system which allows doctors in
training and other healthcare professionals to record their
attendance at various academic sessions organised by their hospital.
read more ...
January 2008
Nottingham University Hospitals can the spam
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust upgraded its email
security solution and managed to block over 95% of spam, remove
malicious content and reduce the IT staff workload by up to 50 hours
a week. read more ...
Opinion: Ban USB memory sticks in
the NHS
Phil Colledge of 123 Consultants says the security risks of
memory sticks are too great to allow their use.
read more ...
Opinion: Public data loss
Dr Barry Barber, one of the world's leading patient
confidentiality experts (now retired) comments on the recent series
of disclosures by government organisations of losses of data.
read more ...
The Doctor's viewpoint: PACS vobiscum
Dr Sebastian Zeki gives a personal insight into life on the front line
for a user of hospital IT systems. This month he looks at the
revolution caused by the introduction of digital radiology systems.
read more ...
ID cards and access control: addressing the problem of digital
identities in the NHS
A typical hospital will have many measures for controlling
security, from physical access to car parks, buildings or rooms, to
login to numerous IT systems and applications. Paul Edmondson
of Enline plc explains how an integrated system can improve
security, reduce the management overhead and simplify the practical
aspects of security for staff.
  The
EPR Arms: Targets, targets, targets
Do targets really help provide a better service, or do they just
direct resources into making sure certain numbers stay within
limits? Join Sean Brennan and the regulars at the EPR Arms
for a discussion of the meaning of life under targets.
enter the pub ....
Making Choose and Book work for secondary care
Professor Angus Wallace, chair of the National Specialty
Reference Group (NSRG), outlines the work he and his team in NSRG
have conducted to improve a crucial element of Choose and Book and
what it holds in store for consultants.
read more ...
Making healthcare organisations
secure from hack attacks
Graham Cluley of Sophos outlines the numerous current security risks
threatening networks and the safety measures to employ to keep them
safe. read more ...
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