September 2002
INTRODUCTION
The second half of 2002 represents a major turning point for the UK eHealth
Association. As I announced in Cardiff, the Board of the UKeHA embarked on
a strategic review, which was achieved on 23rd July.
A number of important recommendations were made, following the review, and decisions to execute these have been made by the Board Meeting held on 20th September. These decisions include the writing of a 3 year Business Plan, following contact and meetings with all members to ascertain your wishes and the agreement (with you) of actions to be executed over the next three years. The strategic review also recommended changes in the management of the UKeHA and will involve enlarging the membership of the Board of Directors.
I have been invited to a "one to one" meeting with
Lord Philip Hunt on 26th September in my capacity as Chairman of your Association
and one of the topics is to discuss the role that the UKeHA can play in the
NHS Modernisation Plan. This is an exciting development, which puts the UKeHA
firmly on the map in the eyes of a Government Minister and offers the
opportunity for us to make a significant contribution to this important programme
over the next few years.
The date for our Annual Conference next year has been agreed to take place over two days on 10th -11th June and the venue will be at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Hall in London, overlooking the Thames and the Houses of Parliament. Further details will be distributed soon.
The next AGM of the UKeHA will be held early in the New Year when elections and re-elections to the Board will take place. We hope that you will all attend this important meeting.
I will continue to keep you informed as to developments in the October newsletter and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the course of the next few months.
Dr Ricky J Richardson FRCP FRCPCH
Chairman
Richard Granger is the first ever NHS Director General of Information. He comes to healthcare with extensive experience of public sector where his clients at Deloittes Consulting (his former employers) included Transport for London and the former Departments for Education and Employment and Social Security. In his new high-profile role Mr Granger will report to the Department of Health's director of research, information and analysis, Sir John Pattison, and be responsible for implementing the government's ambitious information and technology programme. Source:eHealth Insider September 2002
Options for Change is a Department of Health plan to modernise
the delivery of NHS dental treatment. It identifies better use of information
technology as a key part of implementing clinical standards, providing better
training and integrating dental treatment into wider health service provision.
An initial move to implement the plan is to invite primary care dentists,
trusts and strategic health authorities are to submit proposals for pilot
projects that deliver improved services. Application forms and guidance are
available at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/cdo/optionsforchange/
and applications should be returned to the NHS Modernisation Agency by 30
September.
The UK Council for Health Informatics (UKCHI), a new body that will set
standards and good practice guidelines for information professionals in the
health sector, is poised to launch a web site and will stage its first
official meeting in September. UKCHI aims to provide a central focus and raise
the profile of the estimated 7,000 information professionals in the health
sector, providing advice on training and career development and generally
raising its profile. For more information contact glyn@conline.demon.co.uk.
Doctors in Tayside set up a mobile phone text message service
combining reminders to use an inhaler with sport news, celebrity gossip, and
horoscopes. The messages were sent by a "virtual friend with asthma"
to 30 youngsters with the condition. Focus groups before and after the study
found that the content and style of the messages were popular. Many of the
volunteers also developed a rapport with their virtual friend and said that
they no longer forgot to use their inhalers. Source: eHealth Insider September
2002
The Gloucester Smart House is a collaboration between Housing 21, Dementia
Voice and the Bath Institute for Medical Engineering with support from Avon
NHS Mental Health Trust and Gloucester Social Services. It is developing services
and equipment to help dementia sufferers retain their independence and dignity
in circumstances where they may otherwise have to go into residential care.
The technology enables the house to control individual devices within the
house and make decisions about whether it needs to provide the user with reminders,
intervene or call outside help. The computer in the house uses sensors to
monitor the activities of the occupants and their interaction with household
appliances. The information provided by the sensors is used to control devices
which supports the occupants in their daily activities in the house. For example
if the user turns on the bath taps and leaves the bathroom the sensor will
know that they are no longer in the room. Sensors in the bath also monitor
the water level and the temperature. For more information visit www.gloucestersmarthouse@housing21.org.uk
A new International Diabetes Virtual Press Office sponsored
by GlaxoSmithKline has been launched. The online media centre offers webcasts,
news releases, fact sheets and other resources to journalists researching
reports on diabetes. Source: eHealth Insider September 2002.
An interactive sperm called Sammy is the star of an online game designed
to introduce men to the prostate gland and the role it plays in sex, while
promoting awareness about prostate cancer. The game is based on navigating
Sammy Sperm from Arousal through the Twin Planets Testes to Planet Prostate.
The playful sperm has been launched by The Prostate Cancer Charity to raise
awareness about the cancer that affects 20,000 men in the UK each year http://www.planetprostate.com
http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/.
The latest care in cruise ship medical care allows the ship's doctors to send real-time images and consult with onshore doctors at major medical centres all over the world. Today all the newer ships are equipped with satellite hook-ups. The satellites provide live two-way video links, where virtual emergency room visits allow x-rays, electrocardiograms, and other signals to be transmitted to specialists all over the world. http://www.federaltelemedicine.com/n090302.htm
A future healthcare workforce could include informationists, a new type of librarian skilled in retrieving information for clinical care; personal health advocates and advisers who help consumers to find out more about their care and telemedicine practitioners, presenters, and consultants who specialise in delivering healthcare at a distance. The new roles are described in a paper by the director of bio informatics at the University of California San Diego. http://www.healthaffairs.org
The University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre has opened a new facility called the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building. This building now houses the teleHealth and telemedicine program at the university. This new facility will help the health of the American Indian and Alaska Natives by using state-of-the-art communications. The university operates 10 telemedicine clinics and works with more than 50 tribes in Alaska, Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Washington. The program now has 110 faculty and staff members and receives $44 million in grants from the Federal Government, tribal and private parties. http://www.uchsc.edu
The Starbright Foundation brings together healthcare, entertainment and technology to create media-based programs for seriously and chronically ill children. Starbright World is a private online computer network that links seriously ill paediatric patients at 97 hospitals and helps to reduce isolation and loneliness. The search engine offers chat rooms, bulletin boards, weekly contests and activities, email, video-conferencing, medical information, and secure access to select web sites. http://www.federaltelemedicine.com/n090302.htm
Phase I projects in the ERSC research programme are now beginning to produce outputs which can be found listed on their individual project pages on the Innovative Health Technologies (IHT) website. For further information visit www.york.a.cuk/res/iht. Also, has produced information sheets on theirphase II projects. For further information email iht@york.ac.uk
*First Intensive BalkanTelemedicine Seminar: Telemedicine and TeleHealth in Developing Countries. 24-29th October 2002 rlatifi@hsc.vcu.edu
Reshaping Clinical practices and Procedures with Information Flows: The Autumn Forum. 7 November 2002, The Royal College of Surgeons, London. www.bjhc.co.uk
e-Health and the Department of Health, the Wider Picture.11 November, 2002. Skipton House (DoH) SE16LH. www.medical-devices.gov.uk
teleHealth 2002 Wednesday 27 November 2002, One Great George Street, Westminster, London lisa.davies@avienda.co.uk. http://www.avienda.co.uk
TEHRE 2002 December, London www.medrecinst.com/conference/conferences.shtml
5th Annual Filmless Hospitals Conference. 4 December 2002 Hilton, Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Tel: 01932 821723 events@bjhcltd.demon.co.uk
HC2003 24 - 26 March 2003, Harrogate, Yorkshire Tel: 01886 833843 hc2003-judy@amiconf.demon.co.uk
2002 Overseas Conferences
The Canadian Society of TeleHealth 5th Annual Meeting, 3-5 October
2002, Vancouver, British Columbia http://www.cst-sct.org/
Mobile Healthcare 16-18 October 2002 Sands Expo, Las Vegas. www.medrecinst.com/conference/wireless/index/shtml
Electronic Health Records Analyzing and Implementing Strategies for Hospitals 7-8 November, 2002 Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA www.medrecinst.com/ehrsem
Tele-trauma: An In-Depth Review 8-9 November, 2002,Sheraton
Hotel, Burlington, Vermont christine.lash@uvm.edu.
http://cme.uvm.edu
The Caribbean Telemedicine Association 2nd Annual CARTMA Conference: Come Play in the Sandbox. 17-19 November, 2002. Inter-Continental Hotel San Juan, Puerto Rico www.cartma.org
*First PanArab Congress & Fair on I.T in Medicine in Collaboration with 1st International Congress on I.T in Medicine; 19-21 March 2003 at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, Cairo - Egypt. http://www.arabitmed.com
2nd annual Telemedicine & Telecare International Trade
Fair, 9-11 April 2003, Luxembourg, info@telemedicine.lu,
www.telemedicine.lu
TEPR 2003 10-16 May 2003 San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio www.medrecinst.com/conferences/tepr/index.shtml
8th World Conference on Nursing Informatics. EHealth for All: Designing the Nursing Agenda for the Future. 20-25 June 2003 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil www.ni2003.com