In this issue:

• S-SPI fits with NHS CFH's latest Interoperability Initiative.
• Quicksilva's Turf - The South West is the Place to Develop
• DH shifts IT from 'replace' to 'connect'
• How effective are NHS feedback sites?
• Twitter Building Team To Turn Profit
• Google Earth Reveals the Devastation in Haiti
• Schools must embrace mobile technology

Same Old Same Old

Some things never seem to change and I'm on my high horse again about Government targets. I've said before that unless targets/thresholds are well-thought out then they can drive unhelpful behaviours if not downright negative ones... after all we are only human and humans are purposeful creatures... we do nothing without an aim or purpose... even "bad" behaviour has a purpose.

The latest in a long line is the news that obese patients are putting on even more weight before they get NHS treatment... www.netdoctor.co.uk/interactive/news/theme_news_detail.php?id=19570223&tab_id=232... and while I am one of those people for who the jury is out on so called "self-inflicted" illnesses it still gets my goat that this situation seems to be worsened by targets instead of improved.

Every month there seems to be an example of targets set by narrow-thinkers driving the behaviour of a group of people...don’t even get me started on Eon and its thousands of light bulbs www.milescollins.com/wordpress/n-power-light-bulb-giveaway-farce... I have 2 free packs of 4 in my cupboard and the first 4 are from last year! Shine a light...

Gayna

DH shifts IT from 'replace' to 'connect'

From E-Health Insider

NHS informatics in England will move from a "replace all" to "connect all" philosophy, the Department of Health has announced.

Quicksilva thoughts...

The Department of Health has announced a shift in emphasis with regards to health informatics in England. New guidelines will push for a change to a "connect all" philosophy rather than a "replace all" approach to Health IT systems. This change has been brought about by a perceived increase in the amount of widely available compliant software.

New targets include timelines for the creation of Summary Care Records and the completion of Release 2 of the Electronic Prescription Service. The guidelines also stress the importance of the health service getting the most out of technology it already has. For all these expectations to be realised safe, reliable and compliant systems integration and middleware software will need to be used. Quicksilva is well placed to understand these needs with its Compliance-in-a-Box ® and Spinal Tap ® products already in widespread use, while the new Spine-Synchronised Patient Index (S-SPI) is aimed at producing a core Trust-wide tool which holds data for all patients within a PCT. Furthermore it will integrate with existing systems and provide Spine connectivity to keep local and national patient records in sync.

How effective are NHS feedback sites?

From BBC News

With a number of websites giving NHS users the chance to comment on their experiences, two patients looked into whether their feedback had helped improve standards of care.

Quicksilva thoughts...

Last year the government introduced the idea of patients being invited to post messages on a website about their experiences of GP practices and other services in the hope that it would encourage competition and improve standards of care much like people reviewing a hotel, the better the reviews the more people you will get coming to that service. However as with any review site there is always the worry that this service will be abused by people turning it into a popularity contest or people might give negative feedback when they do not have the full story on why delays occur.

Laurence Buckman, the chairman of the BMA's GPs committee comments in Dec 2008, that: "A website on which people can slander or praise irresponsibly is the wrong approach."

Various sites have come on-line from NHS Choices which is a government-run website that allows hospital staff and patients to view reviews of the services provided in their area. This will allow them to try and improve the services that they provide and allows patients to make a more informed choice on where they wish to be treated. However like most reviewing sites people will generally not comment if the service has been exemplary. If they have had a bad experience then they are more likely to add comments to these sites. Also Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a London GP who is on the GPs' Committee of the British Medical Association highlighted a very good point: "I doubt very much whether the elderly, housebound patients in my practice are going to be Twittering or using the web to feed back information."

When viewing the reviews of my local surgeries there was only about 1 review per surgery so it was not that helpful. In the future it might be more helpful if along with these patients reviews the user can view statistics of appointments being delayed, cancelled, on-time much like what is done for trains so you can get an idea if these incidents are isolated or not.

Twitter Building Team To Turn Profit

From AccuraCast

According to a report from Reuters, Twitter has now started building a team that would help them to make money from the free service they are providing to their customers.

Quicksilva thoughts...

I thought the whole point of Twitter was for it, like Facebook, to be free? I can appreciate that it is a going concern and as such needs to generate revenue in order to operate but if to continue operating the site requires a membership style fee I can predict a lot of disgruntled users. In fact I feel the site will not be as popular as it is currently.

Twitter has appealed to so many people because it is a free service which allows you to talk about anything you wish. Making it a paying membership site makes me think that they are putting a price on freedom of speech? The other way of generating revenue is to have adverts on the site, something which I can say doesn’t annoy me but I know some people can find annoying and would put them off using the site.

I think that Twitter need to think long and hard about ways in which to generate revenue, as the obvious two I feel could alienate some users and affect their popularity, something I am sure them do not wish to do?

Google Earth Reveals the Devastation in Haiti

From PC World

Google responded to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti earlier this week by working with satellite imagery company GeoEye to quickly make images of the destruction available in Google Earth and Google Maps.

Quicksilva thoughts...

Working for Quicksilva, developing products for the Health sector, I am very aware of how software is being used to enhance the health service, and I am proud to be a small part of the chain that creates IT systems that help improve people’s health. Therefore I am always impressed when novel IT tools that are used as toys actually become very useful and help save lives too.

I’m sure many of us have used Google Earth to try and find our own homes, see how big our neighbors’ garden is, if they have a swimming pool, or to plan a route for a walk/run/cycle etc., all for a bit of fun. However recently, amid the tragic events in Haiti I read an interesting article about the use of Google Earth to aid the UN’s relief efforts.

Not only am I impressed by the imagery that Google are providing to show the devastation to aid the UN’s efforts but they are also going a step further and using Google Earth as a collaborative tool so those on the ground can annotate the satellite imagery with addition information to aid the relief efforts further. This is remarkable stuff and I can only imagine how the Google Earth development team must get great satisfaction when their software is used to help those in need.

Schools must embrace mobile technology

From BBC News

The need for schools to prepare for 21st century learning was top of the agenda at this year's BETT conference.

Quicksilva thoughts...

I am all for giving the children of today the best opportunities to enable them to grow up and survive in the "Connected World", as that is where we're heading.

Though this all needs to be in moderation and the key principles of education cannot be sacrificed.

As a parent I would chose a school where the position is to embrace technology. However it would not be acceptable to forget the 3 Rs, or to lessen the duty and responsibility that teachers have and owe to their class.

I am sure at the right age and level of maturity Skype-ing and creating (writing?!) video games have their place in the grand scheme of things.

"You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice." - Steven D. Woodhull

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