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

IPTV at the bedsideEnhancing 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

Most efficient distribution points for antiviral drugsAvon 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 ...

An intelligent laundry closetRFID 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...

Dr Carlos Dolz reviewing endoscopy imagesMultimedia 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 ...

Partial map of one membership category in a foundation trust area

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.

EPR Arms logoThe 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 ...

Contents 2007 >>
 

 
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