The NHS sees digital technology as a top priority, and expects clinicians to embrace digital technology and information to improve outcomes for patients. Dr Ruth Chambers has been championing a WMAHSN programme, Technology Enabled Care Services exemplars of person-centred care, and in the journal GP Online writes about her experiences and how social media can play an important role in promoting patient-centred care and improving practice's relationships with patients.
Creative England has announced the second part of the extension of its groundbreaking Interactive Healthcare Fund, pledging £1 million for digital companies outside of London to develop innovative healthcare technology and solutions. This £500,000 fund will offer investments of up to £50,000 to companies and is accepting applications now. Financed by Creative England’s Regional Growth Fund and in partnership with the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, West Midlands AHSN and Yorkshire and Humber AHSN, the funds will support the development of web, mobile and tablet applications.
A West Midlands investigation has revealed worrying evidence that stores across the UK could be putting consumers at risk by selling dangerous amounts of aspirin and paracetamol – sparking calls for new laws. A ‘mystery shopper’ survey conducted by Keele University medical student Phill Molloy, supported by ten students volunteers, showed that non-pharmacy shops regularly broke UK regulations by selling larger-than-recommended quantities of the pills.
Patients in Birmingham and Solihull will be among the first to benefit from a major new drive to modernise how the NHS delivers care. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust will be leading the way in NHS innovation, as part of a pioneering “Test Bed” with partners including West Midlands Academic Health Science Network, Accenture, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Joint Commissioning Team, Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit, West Midlands Ambulance Service and West Midlands Police.
Patients and the public, as well as key NHS staff such as Directors of Commissioning Operations, Heads of Primary Care, Primary Care Commissioners and Contract Managers, Communications and Engagement Teams and Patient Experience Teams, are being asked to review and send feedback on frameworks for patient and public involvement (PPI).
The fight against cancer will receive a significant boost after the first patients with the condition were recruited to the main phase of the UK’s revolutionary DNA-sequencing project, Minister for Life Sciences George Freeman MP has announced. Cancer patients will now join those with rare diseases as part of the 100,000 Genomes Project, an ambitious initiative which aims to sequence 100,000 complete sets of DNA from around 70,000 NHS patients.
The Prime Minister has made exports a priority during this Parliament and the Office for Life Sciences and UK Trade & Investment are interested to understand the challenges that digital health companies face trading internationally. This will allow the government to structure policies and allocate resources to support company growth. South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA) has put together a short survey on the Digital Health sector to inform this thinking.
The work of a West Midlands project in helping NHS organisations to use technology enabled care services (TECS) to support people in looking after their own health has been recognised by publication in an esteemed journal. The article, “Implementing a Technology Enabled Care Service”, has been published this week in the British Journal of Healthcare Management. The article covers the learning from the year-long Advice and Interactive Messaging (AIM for Health Project), which was funded by NHS England via NHS Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group.
The six-month ‘CircMed’ project, co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, will explore how the proposed circular economy business models for supplying refurbished equipment can work within the UK healthcare sector. The feasibility study focuses on a range of medical imaging equipment, including MRI scanners, ultrasound equipment, CT scanners, interventional X-ray equipment and mobile surgery. Feedback via a short survey is being invited from NHS and private sector health professionals, including trust Board Directors, clinicians, contracting industry groups and managed equipment service providers as part of the study.
As it develops the First Paediatric Rare Disease Centre in the UK, Birmingham Children’s Hospital is holding a week of events to raise awareness of Rare Diseases. These events will take place at lunchtimes in Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s main outpatients department and in the conservatory (with coffee shop) from Monday 22 February until Monday 29 February.