Informaticopia

Friday, December 17, 2004

Better information, better choices, better health: Putting information at the centre of health

Better information, better choices, better health: Putting information at the centre of health

This Department of Health Strategy which was launched yesterday aims to "a 3 year programme of action, at both national and local level, designed to improve equitable access to the quality information people need and want to make choices about their personal health and healthcare."

NHS 'unprepared' for information changes, says report

A report today (17 December) in Guardian Unlimited (politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1375382,00.html) says that 'nearly a quarter of NHS communication officers are unprepared for the Freedom of Information Act'. The research reports that, of the communications officers responding:

  • 24% said they were definitely not prepared for the statutory changes;
  • 25% were worried that their records management system would be unable to meet the demands of the act (this includes a 20-day deadline in meeting any requests for information under the act); and
  • a quarter thought the record systems in their trust or health authority would fail to meet the requirements of the act.

It should be noted that the findings were based on responses from only 59 NHS communication officers, but does paint a worrying picture.


Thursday, December 16, 2004

National Patient Safety Agency - "Right Patient Right Care Final Report"

National Patient Safety Agency - "Right Patient Right Care Final Report"

This report from the National Patient Safety Agency (published 9th Dec) "is about how patients can erroneously receive health care which is not intended for them or be matched with specimens other than their own. It reviews the background to such mismatching and sets out the findings from two pieces of
research commissioned by the NPSA, one on checking using manual methods and the other on technology based systems.

The paper notes the link between this project and the Government’s major investment in healthcare IT through the National IT Programme (NPfIT). This will help ensure that
any technological solutions developed for mismatching are consistent with that programme both at a national and local level. The paper proposes a way forward with the NHS, industry and patients working together to devise and introduce systems
which will help to reduce mismatching significantly and make patient care safer."

It sets out current issues with the use of case studies and examines potential benefits from technology, including;
• barcodes – the most familiar form of ID coding technology, using adjacent bars and spaces to present information.
• radio frequency identification (RFID) – using radio-frequency transfer of data between a reader and a tag.
• card based technologies (magnetic strip, IC chip) – using cards which incorporate a magnetic stripe digitally encoded with information.
• biometrics (for example, finger printing and iris scan) – using automated methods of identifying or authenticating a living person based on physiological or behavioural characteristics.

With some conclusions about the most appropriate technologies and the importance of links with NPfIT the report summarises the current state of play and some plans for the future.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Docobo UK Ltd

Docobo UK Ltd

This product for remote monitoring of a range of phsyiological indicators in patients at home has grown from an EU funded research project and offers some useful capabilities.

It will be interesting to see how products such as this are incorporated in the the patient record under NPfIT.

Monday, December 13, 2004

Auricle - Aggregator inhibitions

Auricle - Aggregator inhibitions

This article from "Auricle : learning technologies in Higher Education" discusses the current state and potential future for blogs and, in particular, the educational & open source arguments around their use.

House of Commons - Constitutional Affairs - NHS FOI project

House of Commons - Constitutional Affairs - NHS FOI project

This report on the NHS Freedom of Information project is part of a larger report from the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs project about public sector preparedness for the Freedom of Information Act which comes into force on Jan 1st 2005.

It includes a comment from the Information Commissioner that the lack of central control has contributed to a patchy approach, particularly to GP practice publication schemes.

It concludes "Nevertheless, there is little evidence that the DCA has been sufficiently active in providing the necessary leadership to ensure that many of the organisational and technical problems have been addressed in time in this sector."

I wonder of the department of health's own FOI publication scheme will cope with applications at the beginning of January?