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Showing results for tags 'Technology'.
Found 379 results
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Content ArticleThis article in Studies in Health Technology and Informatics looks at how patient-peer support can be a valuable resource for patients in the context of hospital safety. Hospitalised patients often lack access to safety systems and face difficulties in having a proactive role in their safety. The authors of this study conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 patients and caregivers at a paediatric and an adult hospital. They highlight the potential benefits of incorporating patient-peer support into patient-facing technologies and argue that helping patients access such support can help them engage with and improve the quality and safety of their hospital care.
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Content ArticleThis article in BMC Health Services Research looks at a range of macro, meso and micro factors influencing eHealth innovation in the English NHS. eHealth is a broad term which encompasses e-health, m-health, telemedicine and telecare, public health surveillance, personalised medicine/patient engagement, health and medical platforms, self-tracking, medical imaging, healthcare information systems, mobile connectivity, social networking, sensors and wearables, gamification, electronic health records, big data, health information technology, health analytics, digitised health systems, robotics and active assistive living. The study found that the fragmentation of the NHS is the most significant factor limiting the adoption of eHealth innovations, arguing that national policy has intensified the digital divide. It states that the NHS Long Term Plan places great emphasis on the role of digital transformation in aiding communication and enabling people to access care quickly and easily, highlighting significant implications for effectiveness, efficiency and equity.
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Content ArticleMany prisoners still struggle to access hospital services despite their significant health care needs, and early data suggests the pandemic has worsened access further. This report by the Nuffield Trust considers new evidence relating to pre-existing health conditions before prison, the use of remote consultation, different ethnic groups' use of health services and the early impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Content ArticleThis study in BMJ Quality & Safety examines how much electronic differential diagnostic support (EDS) systems improve diagnostic accuracy, and whether EDS should be used early or late in the diagnostic process. Using a volunteer sample of medical students and doctors at six Canadian medical schools, the authors compared the rate of correct diagnosis when EDS was used early and late in the diagnostic process. The study found that EDS increased the number of diagnostic hypotheses and the likelihood of correct diagnosis, and that these effects persisted whether EDS was used early or late in the diagnostic process.
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Content ArticlePatients and their families are usually the first to notice new or changing symptoms and they can play an important role in preventing diagnostic errors. This blog in BMJ Opinion describes how researchers, healthcare professionals and patients worked together to develop OurDX, an online tool designed to improve the efficiency of medical appointments and reduce diagnostic errors.
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Content ArticleZiebland et al. consider what might be learned from the unintended, apparently unanticipated, consequences of the use of digital health (including alternatives to face to face consultations, electronic medical records, use of apps and online monitoring) in primary care.
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EventPart of the NHS Long Term Plan Webinar Series, this webinar discusses how digital technology is helping to battle the growing waiting list backlog. Register
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Content ArticleThis new book by Professor Harold Thimbleby of Swansea University tells stories of widespread problems with digital healthcare and explores how they can be overcome. "The stories and their resolutions will empower patients, clinical staff and digital developers to help transform digital healthcare to make it safer and more effective."
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Content ArticleIn this article in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter, Katsuyuki Miyasaka talks about the history of the pulse oximeter in Japan and celebrates one of it's earliest developers, Takuo Aoyagi. The author recognises the life-saving impact of pulse oximeters, but talks about the need for more education and regulation around the use of this readily available device. Miyasaka highlights that the quality of devices is variable and that when patients attempt to interpret the numbers they see, it may lead to harm.
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EventuntilNHS Long Term Plan Webinar Series NHS waiting lists have hit record levels across the UK as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the numbers are continuing to rise, with some experts warning 14 million people could be waiting for treatment by the end of 2022. Many hospital groups have turned to digital technology to increase clinical capacity, help safely manage patients and detect deteriorating patients, but are these short term saviours or long-term solutions? New NHS funding has been created to support innovation and the introduction of digital tools, so we have brought together an expert panel to share evidence-based examples of how digital technology is supporting the NHS waiting list challenge and helping to shape the future of healthcare and discuss: What impact has remote patient monitoring already made for patients and clinicians dealing with waiting list backlogs? How can experiences in surgical waiting lists and COVID-19 care guide other clinical pathways? How does this offer a way to increase engagement with patients and improve outcomes? Book a place
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Content ArticleIn this article for the Evening Standard, journalist Susannah Butter talks to Caroline Criado Perez about her book, 'Invisible Women, Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men'. Criado Perez discusses inequalities faced by women in healthcare, including delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis and exclusion from medical research. The article also looks at tech solutions being founded by women to fill gaps and address these inequalities.
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EventuntilDigital solutions have already transformed how health services are offered, accessed and used, and will continue to do so in the years to come. With the adoption of new technologies, new ways of working are emerging that seek to combine the best of digital approaches with the benefits of face-to-face contact. In this online event, the panel of experts will explore how wearables have created better health outcomes for people living with long-term conditions, such as diabetes. They will look to the future and discuss how we can make sure that digital approaches are prioritised in the long term to continue empowering patients and supporting clinicians to create patient-centred care, leading to improved health outcomes. They will also explore the lessons from diabetes and wearables that offer wider learning across the NHS on harnessing the benefits of technology for a digital future. Register
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News ArticleSurgical hubs, new technology and innovative ways of working will help tackle waiting lists and treat around 30% more elective care patients by 2023 to 2024. Backed by a new £36 billion investment in health and social care over the next 3 years, ‘doing things differently’ and embracing innovation will be the driving force to get the NHS back on track. The funding will see the NHS deliver an extra 9 million checks, scans and operations for patients across the country, but it’s not enough to simply plug the elective gaps. The NHS will push forward with faster and more streamlined methods of treatments. Surgical hubs already being piloted in a number of locations, including London, are helping fast-track the number of planned operations, including cataract removal, hysterectomies and hip and knee replacements, and will be expanded across the country. Located on existing hospital sites, surgical hubs bring together the skills and resource under one roof while limiting infection risk and providing a COVID-secure environment, with more planned to open in the coming year. The NHS has been trialling a range of new ways of working in 12 areas, backed by £160 million, to accelerate the recovery of services. This includes setting up pop-up clinics so patients can be treated quickly, in person, and discharged closer to home, as well as virtual wards and home assessments to allow patients to receive medical support from the comfort of their home, freeing up beds in hospitals. GP surgeries are using artificial intelligence to help prioritise patients most in need and identify the right level of care and support needed for patients on waiting lists. The latest cancer tests being deployed across the NHS are also helping speed up diagnosis and spot cancer early on. Thanks to the hard work of staff, a quarter of a million people were checked for cancer in June – the second highest number on record – and more than 27,000 people started treatment for cancer in the same period. Professor Steve Powis, NHS England medical director, said: "Although the pandemic is still with us and we will have to live with the impact of COVID for some time, the NHS has already made effective use of additional resources to recover services. From adopting the latest technologies to more evening and weekend working, NHS staff are going to great lengths to increase the number of operations carried out. The further funding announced this week will support staff to deliver millions more vital checks, tests and operations, so if you have a health concern, please do come forward to receive the care and treatment you may need." Read full story Source: 8 September, Department of Health and Social Care
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Content ArticleThis document provides the principles, concepts, terms and definitions for health software and health IT systems, key properties of safety, effectiveness and security, across the full life cycle, from concept to decommissioning. It also identifies the transition points in the life cycle where transfers of responsibility occur, and the types of multi-lateral communication that are necessary at these transition points. This document also establishes a coherent concepts and terminology for other standards that address specific aspects of the safety, effectiveness, and security (including privacy) of health software and health IT systems.
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Content Article
Flyer for WHO medsafe app
Becky T posted an article in Medication including labelling
This flyer promotes the WHO medsafe mobile app, powered by the World Health Organization (WHO). It highlights the 5 Moments for Medication Safety as is part of the 'Medication without harm' global patient safety challenge. -
Content ArticleIn this article, Dr Yu Chye Wah discusses medical innovation in healthcare, the adoption process and how, whatever the innovation, it should not replace the human touch.
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Content ArticleEvery day we use tools and resources to manage our lives, both personally and professionally. As a healthcare professional, you are committed to providing safe quality healthcare to all individuals. The checklists in this book are designed to help you succeed in that effort. You may be a first-time reader who has not had the opportunity to put these tools to the test, or you could be a returning reader interested in what new checklists you can use. In either instance, if you’re reading this book, then you are searching for tools to help your healthcare organisation navigate the increasing complexities of providing quality health care and maintaining the physical environment where healthcare is delivered.
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Content Article
In this blog, patient Becky Tatum reflects on two articles in Forbes magazine describing how technology is enabling patient's with multiple chronic conditions who may have been discharged from hospital, to now be provided with aftercare in their own home. Becky looks at the pros and cons of receiving hospital treatment at home from a patient's perspective. -
News ArticleA group of patient activists has set up a new website using official NHS data to allow patients to check the waiting times for treatments at their local hospital. The new waiting times tool is thought to be the first automated and regularly updated website that shows hospital performance against key waiting time targets, by medical specialty such as cardiology or orthopaedics. The service, developed by volunteers from the not-for-profit Patient Experience Library, not only shows patients how many people are waiting to be treated overall but also shows data on the median waiting time as well as how well the hospital is performing against targets over time. Patients can also compare different hospitals and look at the performance of the NHS in England overall. Wait times for mental health services are treated separately and not included. Miles Sibley, co-founder of the Patient Experience Library, said the website was an attempt to bring transparency to NHS England’s “impenetrable spreadsheets” which not only affected patients but also other NHS staff who told Sibley they spend hours downloading data and working out their organisations performance. Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 June 2021
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News Article
Ambulance crews in England to get body cameras after 30% rise in assaults
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of ambulance crews in England will be given body cameras after a sharp rise in attacks on NHS staff treating patients, the government has announced. Data shows that 3,569 ambulance staff were physically assaulted by members of the public last year – 30% more than in 2016-17. The plans come after successful trials in London and the north-east. The cameras will be given to crews in 10 ambulance trusts across the country. Medics will wear the cameras and be able to press a button to start recording if patients or the public become aggressive or abusive, and the film will be given to the police where needed. Prerana Issar, the chief people officer for the NHS, said: “Every member of our dedicated and hardworking NHS staff has the fundamental right to be safe at work and it is our priority to eliminate violence and abuse, which we will not tolerate. As well as reducing the number of incidents towards our staff, these cameras are a vital step towards ensuring our people feel safe too.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2021 -
Content Article
We are delighted to announce that Patient Safety Learning's Chief Executive Helen Hughes has been recognised by HIMSS as a global Patient Leader in digital healthcare, alongside Birgit Bauer, Tiffany McKever and Christine Von Raesfeld. -
Content ArticleCatherine Mitchell, Head of cost and value at Healthcare Financial Management Association, explains how NHS finance can take an active role in supporting the use of digital healthcare to transform services and drive value and efficiency.
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News Article
England test-and-trace glitch blamed for spread of India Covid variant
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A glitch in the government’s £37bn test-and-trace system may have helped fuel the spread of a highly-transmissible Covid variant in one of the UK’s worst-hit towns, it has emerged. The software error meant that more than 700 infected people and their close contacts were not promptly passed on to local health teams, allowing them to potentially spread the disease further. The number of missing cases was highest in Blackburn with Darwen, where about 300 people are believed to have been lost in the system during a faulty IT upgrade. The Lancashire town is battling one of the UK’s largest outbreaks of the fast-spreading variant first identified in India. Labour has described the news as “jaw-dropping”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 May 2021 -
News Article
Ambulance crews in England to use iPads to assess accident and stroke victims
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ambulance crews will start using iPads to send photographs of accident and stroke victims to specialist hospital doctors so that they can make rapid diagnoses and save some patients a trip to A&E. NHS England is giving 30,000 iPads to regional ambulance services to help paramedics decide what care to give and whether to take someone to hospital or treat them at the scene. The tablet computers will be a vital link between ambulance crews and hospital consultants, whose digital interaction will make treatment faster and better, NHS England said. For example, the devices will let paramedics show an A&E department how badly injured patients have been in a road traffic crash, so that they can prepare for their arrival. They will also allow crews access to patients’ medical records to help them build a better picture of their health. “Ambulance crews have been at the forefront of the pandemic, routinely dealing with life-and-death situations and often first on scene to treat and diagnose critically ill patients,” said Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive. “These devices are another tool for our highly skilled paramedics and ambulance technicians as they continue to respond to the country’s most critically ill and injured patients.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 May 2021 -
Content ArticleThis webinar from the Faculty of Clinical Informatics looks at the problems individual clinicians have with reporting and fixing issues with clinical systems across the NHS. Panel members also discuss ideas for how processes can be improved. The panel was made up of: Dr Marcus Baw, GP and Emergency Physician, Chair of the RCGP Health Informatics Group, FCI Fellow and open source developer Dr Ian Thompson, Clinical Lead (Primary Care) in Digital Health and Care at The Scottish Government Dr Lesley Kay, Consultant Rheumatologist at Newcastle Hospitals and Deputy Medical Director at the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch Emma Melhuish, Principal Informatics Specialist at NHS Digital Neil Watson, Director of Pharmacy, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
