October 2000
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the second edition of UKTA Information Exchange. Since the publication
of last month's newsletter we have gone live with our relaunched website http://www.UK eHealth Association.org.uk.
We are currently in the process of updating information on the site and developing
it further so that members are kept up to date with telemedicine developments.
Please visit the site and send your comments, suggestions and ideas for development
to monica@denwales.freeserve.co.uk
We have some management changes to announce. Keith Freeman,
Chief Executive has stood down from his role due to increased business commitments.
However, he is not leaving UKTA. He Has taken over the role of Non Executive
Deputy Chairman and will continue to promote UKTA. The Board and Executive
members thank Keith for all his hard work and look forward to working with
him in his new role. Terry Dennis has taken over the Chief Executive post
in the short term and will continue in this role until the next AGM. He still
continues to be Treasurer of the Association. We also welcome Swarup Dasgupta
who will be developing and maintaining the website.
On 20 October UKTA held a very successful members meeting at
the Lifespan Community NHS Trust in Cambridge. Richard Taylor, Chief Executive
of the Trust and a number of his colleagues provided a very stimulating and
enjoyable morning. Speakers presentations will be posted on the website in
the near future for the benefit of members who were not able to attend.
The next members meeting will be on 8 December 2000 at Telelarm,
Sheffield. More details will be circulated soon!
NEWS UPDATE
American Medical Development, Inc., a leader in the telemedicine
industry is pleased to announce that Thomas J. Swanson has joined AMD as Director
of Sales. AMD is the world's leading provider of diagnostic medical devices
and services for telemedicine with over 1700 installations in more than 41
countries. For more information, contact AMD at www.americanmeddev.com
Healthcare Alliances have been commissioned by the Welsh Development
Agency to undertake a major EC funded research project into the current use
and plans for the use of telemedicine and telecare, particularly in the context
of rural communities. If you have any relevant information please contact
Terry Dennis of Healthcare Alliances: tdennis@healthcarealliances.co.uk.
All respondents will receive a copy of the summary report which is expected
to be published early in the new year.
Newchurch & Company has recently joined forces with healthcare
software development specialist, Agora Healthcare services. The resulting
new company, Newchurch, is ideally placed to help health and social care professionals
into the 21st century. In addition to providing strategic consultancy and
information, they also provide web based support services which are designed
to reduce day to day administration, increasing efficiency and leaving health
and social care professionals free to focus on patient and client care. www.newchurch.co.uk
Biodata Information Technology has recently voiced concerns
that video conferencing sessions on unsecured public networks are in violation
of the seventh principle of the Data Protection Act (1998). Video conferencing
systems are in routine use within many sectors including law firms, law courts
and the medical firled where personal and often sensitive information is exchanged.
In the majority of cases, no effort is made to secure the information when
it is being carried over vulnerable public networks. Biodata's Babylon META
VC series of encryption units are specifically designed to operate with all
leading VC systems and offer a transparent and simple solution to this problem
irene@goodeint.com
Elderly residents in West Lothian, Scotland, have been given
the chance to lead a more independent life, thanks to a state-of the-art remote
monitoring and communications technology in selected West Lothian local authority
houses. A compact, desktop videophone and a remote video surveillance unit,
developed by Motion Media Technology, is enabling 24-hour remote monitoring
and face-to-face communication. Using this technology, carers and support
staff can see if residents have fallen or are in pain and also provide advice
and reassurance from a central point, rather than having to make regular visits
to each home. Motion Media is one of four companies in the consortium. Lead
company Tunstall Telecom Ltd supply community alarm and emergency communication
technology, Possum Controls Limited provide home control systems, and Technology
in Healthcare advised on the social, safety and security problems faced by
older people. www.motion-media.com
/ info@motion-media.com
Down's Syndrome children are now being provided with remote
learning assistance and elderly people with 24-hour support in the home, through
the latest virtual healthcare services linked to the television set. Therapists
at South & East Belfast Health and Social Services Trust are involved
in a UK pilot project to provide teletherapy via the latest videocommunications
technology, designed and manufactured by Motion Media Technology. The UK pilot
is part of a wider European-funded project, ATTRACT, to enable doctors and
therapists to provide tele-homecare, tele-consultation and tele-rehabilitation
via videoconferencing links. Essential clinical information covering nephrology,
asthma, multiple sclerosis and Down's Syndrome will be conveyed down the visual
link. www.motion-media.com
/ info@motion-media.com
In September 2001 NHS Direct Online www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk, the
government's flagship e-health initiative, is to be expanded to include a
personalised e-mail enquiry service and direct telephone link to the NHS Direct
nurse triage telephone service, which will be accessible by clicking a 'single
button on the site'. The new e-mail enquiry service is intended to provide
full access to the same type of nurse triage system available over the phone
from NHS Direct.
A new initiative, which is supported by the European Commission
as part of the EU Action Plan to build an Information Age Society, aims to
develop a unique interactive seal of quality for sites providing health advice
and information. The project, MedCertain is designed to build an international
trust mark for health information, in the form of an interactive seal on health
sites. This will not only act as a quality mark but will provide consumers
with information on disclosures and independent third party verification of
the quality of information http://www.medcertain.com
The NHS Information Authority has issued a beginners guide to
using e-mail http://www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexipu/whatnew/email.pdf.
It is aimed at helping NHS organisations to make best use of e-mail. It advises
all NHS organisations to develop a clear policy on how e-mail should be used
and provides basic pointers on netiquette - good behaviour online. The guide
urges NHS staff to: pick up e-mail at least twice a day, use attachments sparingly,
be careful of content -as e-mails can be easily passed on, and only copy in
people who really need to receive the e-mail to avoid clogging up servers.
New terms of service were announced by the Department of Health
on 2 October which has given the go ahead for GPs to keep electronic patient
records. This is an extremely important announcement which could be the beginning
of a fundamental change in primary care record keeping. www.doh.gov.uk/gpepr
The update of the 1998 English Information for Health Strategy
is expected to be launched at the end of October and will be published on
the web rather than as hard copy. The revised strategy will take account of
the e-government agenda, rising public expectations and developments in technology.
Delivering electronic patient records (EPRs) will remain at the heart of the
strategy. More details in the November issue.
The Government has made developing e-commerce the highest priority
for the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA). In response the Agency has
just established a dedicated e-commerce team to develop an integrated e-commerce
strategy for the NHS. The e-commerce strategy is expected to establish standards
for the provision of e-business services for the NHS, for developing information
sharing between all stakeholders using Web technology, and increased collaboration
between trusts and with health suppliers to reduce supply chain costs.
Kate Woodhead, chair of the National Association of Theatre
Nurses NATN called for perioperative nurses to embrace changes such as Internet
communication, surgical robot technology and fast-throughput day surgery at
the association's recent annual conference. Papers from the conference will
be on the NATN website until mid-November http://www.natn.org.uk/
University College London offers a fully web based MSc degree
course in Primary Health Care http://www.ucl.ac.uk/primcare-popsci/msc/index.html,
with a strong emphasis on evidence based practice. The course is international,
multidisciplinary and intended for nurses, doctors, managers, pharmacists
and practitioners of complementary medicine working in primary care. Next
intake is September 2001. For further details contact Dr Trisha Greenhalgh,
on webmsc@ucl.ac.uk
Hungary launches its first "website hospital http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7266/916/b
SITES OF INTEREST
Medendium Group Publishing, publisher of Guidelines and Guidelines
in Practice, has launched a major new website, eGuidelines www.eguidelines.co.uk
. The site allows free access to NHS-commended and professional body guidelines
summarised in Guidelines. Additionally, the site provides links to many related
clinical effectiveness sites plus the opportunity to subscribe to a fully
searchable back catalogue of Guidelines in Practice.
There is a new Telemedicine Research Center web site, which
has recently developed a partnership with Amazon Books and is offering the
Telemedicine Bookstore. There is an extensive list of books found listed in
the TIE's bibliographic database on telemedicine and telemedicine-related
subjects
Data protection legislation: interpretation and barriers to
research. A useful BMJ article: www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7265/890
Biochip Detects Salmonella, E. Coli In Real-time www.biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=3733709
Health Visiting And Schools Nursing Innovation Resource Centre
www.innovate.org.uk/frameset.htm.
A new on line resource centre about innovation in health visiting and schools
nursing has been launched. Part of the Innovation Network for health visiting
and schools nursing, the Resource Centre has a growing database of innovative
practice from across the country and a friendly and lively e-discussion group
www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/hv-sn-forum
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
The * denotes the first appearance of the date of conferences
and meetings
*Cornwall & Isles of Scilly E-Conference 24 November 2000.
Join in at www.cornwallhealth.org.uk/egroup
The conference will be dealing with housing and asthma. Experts on the topic
will be available throughout the day to provide information and advice
*The next UKTA members meeting will be held on 8 December 2000
at Telelarm in Sheffield. Programme and details of venue will be circulated
in the near future
Telecon 2000 Conference 5-8 December 2000, Exposition, 6-8 December
2000, Anaheim Convention Centre, Anaheim, California. For further information
visit the website: www.teleconexpos.com/telecon2000
Telemedicine and Image Transmission - 3rd Annual Moscow International
Symposium on Telemedicine 14-15 December 2000 Moscow, Russia at the Medical
Center of Management Department of the President of Russian Federation, 2,
Romanov per., Moscow. e-mail: seminar@telemed.ru www.telemed.ru
*British Computer Society Nursing Specialist Group and The Foundation
of Nursing Studies Nurses and Therapists Informatics Conference, on 13 February
2001 in London. Sharing the Experience: Informatics and Research in Healthcare
Practice www.fons.org/conf.htm
For further information email. admin@fons.org Deadline for receipt of abstracts
is 16 November 2000.
*HC2001 Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Health Informatics
Committee of the British Computer Society will take place in Harrogate, 19-21
March 2001. For an information pack on how to submit proposals for papers,
satellite sessions and poster presentations email:
hc2001- judy@amiconf.demon.co.uk
*Telemedicine & Telecare International Trade Fair 3-5 April
2001 - Foires Internationales de Luxembourg, Luxembourg. For more information
www.telemedicine.lu
or email: info@telemedicine.lu
6th international conference on the Medical Aspects of Telemedicine
Uppsala, Sweden on 18-21 June 2001. For further information email:telemedicine2001@slu.se
www.service.slu.se/conference/telemedicine2001
Medinfo2001 - the informatics route to knowledge - towards global
health. ExCel Congress Centre, London 2-5 September 2-5 2001. Call for papers
now out on the website www.medinfo2001.org
UKTA CIRCULATIONS
The following circulations were sent out to members in October:
RCSEd Diploma in Medical Informatics
Horizon Live Desktop Lecture Series is "TeleHealth Applications:
Today and in the Future"
Request for information on alert devicesTeleremote and Robotic
Surgery To Be Featured at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress
Request for information on strategies in place in the UK for
movement in information management in health care
Notification that the UKTA website has been relaunched
The e-revolution starts here... Medexonline article
AND FINALLY…….
The success of the newsletter depends very much on you! We want
the newsletter to be a tool for you to raise awareness to other members of
the work in which you are involved. This might be the development of new clinical
services, telecare products or new initiatives.
If you would like to contribute to the next circulation please
email monica@denwales.freeserve.co.uk
with your information
Please forward this e-mail to other colleagues who may find
it of interest
Monica Dennis
Administration Officer
UK eHealth Association
Britannia House
11 High Street
Cowbridge
Vale of Glamorgan, CF71 7AD
Tel and fax: 01446 775189
Mobile: 0780 844 2079
Email: monica@denwales.freeserve.co.uk
www.UK eHealth Association.org.uk