News
NHS Chief Information Officer to call for IT professionals to play
full part in new NHS
7 March 2008
The Department of Health’s acting chief information officer, Matthew
Swindells, will tell the British Computer Society's annual healthcare
conference next month that IT professionals should "step forward and
play their part" to help bring about changes in the NHS.
Matthew Swindells, who will open the HC2008 event along with the
Society's President Rachel Burnett, is expected to talk in his keynote
presentation on the strategic role of information in the NHS, and in
particular the part it plays in supporting and catalysing changes
described in the interim 'Darzi review'. This is the overarching report
on the NHS' next 60 years, the final version of which is due to be
released as the NHS celebrates its 60th anniversary later this year.
He says: “Information saves lives, so information professionals need
to step forward and play their part in creating an NHS that is founded
on quality, evidence and empowerment.”
This year’s HC event comprises 10 ‘mini-conferences’ which can be
followed in full or ‘mix and matched’ according to interest. The first
two days will concentrate on the implementation of national programmes,
including the perspectives of Wales and Scotland, supporting access,
disability and diversity, understanding current priorities and future
challenges, making innovative technologies work, and, building
capability in people and services. The third will examine care across
sectors, managing risk and supporting research, and transforming
services.
Sessions include how to realise the benefits of the systems delivered
by the English National Programme for IT, a panel discussion on clinical
software designed for patient safety, tutorials, and a number of
presentations and workshops. These range from using technology to reduce
bed-blocking, improving the end-user experience of eHealth, the role of
assistive technologies in the home, and helping nurses prepare for
working in a digital environment.
A number of presentations and papers will be aired, including the use
of support workers in an internet chatroom for people suffering from
depression, and measuring the impact of computers on consultations.
At the same time, topics such as using open source systems in
healthcare applications, and how to encourage clinical staff to also
become health informatics leaders — indeed, whether delivering
effective, coordinated, healthcare across the social divide is in fact a
realistic aspiration — will be tackled. Using technology to cope with an
increasingly aged/infirm population is also explored.
The BCS Health Informatics (London & South East) Specialist Group
will also host a debate on whether the benefits of allowing NHS
organizations to choose their own sensible and standards-compliant ICT
solutions outweigh the risks.
Professor Stephen Kay, Chairman of the HC2008 Programme Committee,
says: “The traditional barriers between organisations, professions and
individual practitioners are already beginning to crumble, and new
working partnerships are in the making, focused on making a better
joined-up service for each patient/client. As a result, it is now
imperative that everyone in these new multidisciplinary teams
understands the information needs of their colleagues more fully and
uses the tools that ICTs offer.”
Sheila Bullas, Chair of the HC Executive Committee, adds: “Any health
professional interested in the application of technology in a clinical
context will find at this year’s conference the most up-to-date
information presented by practitioners and researchers leading the way
in the use of computer technology to deliver healthcare. Twenty-five
years after the first HC conference, HC2008 proves that technology in a
healthcare context is as important as ever.”
The conference will be held from 21-23 April 2008 in Harrogate. For
more details see
www.health-informatics.org
|