Informatics update: February 2008 part 2

Dear all

Here is the latest informatics update for consumption with care!

In the news (scary bits first) :

A laptop containing 5,123 patients' medical records has been stolen from a midland hospital. The theft from Russells Hall Hospital, took place on 8 January…The trust said the database was password protected and held "limited clinical records". (Nursing Times 19th February p3) Thousands of NHS computer "smartcards" used to give access to confidential patient records have gone missing.

Test raises awareness of the Individual Health Record (Wales): Patients registered at a surgery in Tintern have been sent leaflets telling them about important changes in the way their health information is used. The leaflet explains how and why a summary of each patient's health record is shared with the Gwent out-of-hours service, which provides care when the GP surgery is closed. The leaflet was sent to patients registered at the Wye Dean Practice as a trial to evaluate its effectiveness, with a view to sending it to all patients living in Gwent in the future. The awareness leaflet supports public information already available at GP practices in Gwent which explain the Individual Health Record and how it is used.

Google Health Pilot Project - To Be Announced (CNN.com) Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader. The pilot project will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public.

SNOMED CT condition checking added to Multilex drug knowledgebase. First DataBank Europe (FDBE) has added live condition checking using the standard clinical terminology of SNOMED CT to its drugs knowledgebase, the Multilex Drug Data File (Multilex DDF). This means that patient data recorded using SNOMED CT codes can be used within a Multilex DDF condition check. The development was undertaken to comply with NHS Connecting for Health guidance on the use of SNOMED CT for the NHS Care Records Service.  For those wonderful folks with interest in SNOMED see  http://www.jdet.com/  for a SNOMED demo browser by BT.

Your help is needed:

The RCN has launched a new campaign on patient and client dignity. The results of this special survey will help the RCN to understand the issues you face as an individual practitioner with this fundamental aspect of care. The survey opened on Monday 11 February 2008. On this theme a story from ehealth news: “New ICTs for Elderly Must Respect Dignity: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) developed to help older people stay healthy for longer should be cost effective and respect the privacy and dignity of the elderly, MEPs have stated. Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy were voting on amendments to the Commission's proposal to set up an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) programme. Read the full article.

Training centre seeks clinicians to test technologies: The NHS Training Hub for Operative Technologies in Healthcare (THOTH) is looking for experienced clinicians to manage projects such as remote patient care for long term conditions and use of personal digital assistants for patient notes. Project managers can either work one or two days a week or for a three or six month period and THOTH will pay their salary, national insurance, pension and project costs.

Articles of interest:

The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN) The September 30, 2007 topic, The Value of RNs: How Can We Communicate our Economic Worth? is now accessible to all.

Nurses and technology: an international survey (PDF): The results of an important multi-centred study, entitled "Nurses and technology: an international survey", are being made available here to all RCN members. We are doing so with kind permission from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).  This article was first published in Healthcare Technology Horizons, a supplement to AAMI’s peer-reviewed journal, Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology.  

Filling the void: how real life health information builds better services. Author: Ingram-C; Knowles-V; Beety-D Br-J-Neuroscience-Nursing. 2007. Dec. 3(12). p 575-8.Abstract: Research by the Sue Ryder Care Health Informatics Team and the Market Analysis Project (MAP) to determine current and future specialist palliative and neurological service requirements. Benefits of applying MAP data, the ad hoc nature of service provision for neurological patients, commissioning and Sue Ryder Care's recommendations for service improvement were discussed. 

Dean A (2008) Communication with patients using e-Mail and the Internet Nursing Times 104:7, 29-30

Events:

NHS CfH Research Capability Programme

Details of some engagement events for the new NHS CfH Research Capability Programme: The workshops are primarily aimed at clinicians and health researchers and will explore the NHS Care Records Service. Attendance at this event will give you and your colleagues an insight into the new NHS Research Capability Programme.  You will also have an opportunity to investigate, with the project team, how the programme should develop for the benefit of public health to track diseases over time, to assess the impact, safety and long term effectiveness of different treatment options. The workshops will take place on the following dates: 4 March 2008, NEC, Birmingham. Chaired by Professor Ian Diamond 11 March 2008, Mary Ward House, London. Chaired by Professor Ian Diamond 17 March 2008, Leeds University, Leeds. Chaired by Professor Sir Alex Markham.

The report of the UKCRC research simulations is available.

9th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference

School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin Call for Abstracts 9th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference, 5-7 November 2008, Transforming Healthcare through Research, Education and Technology.  Abstracts of original research, systematic reviews or innovations in research methodology or education are invited for concurrent papers, workshops or poster presentations. Submissions are welcome from those working in all areas of health care and related fields. Apply on-line at www.nursing-midwifery.tcd.ie/events/. Closing date for submission of abstracts: Friday 25 April 2008

IT for nurses

Date: 5 March 2008 to 6 March 2008
Location: Learning Hub, 42 South Oswald Road, Edinburgh

IT for nurses is a brand new course specifically for nurses and HCSW’s. You can choose from any combination of these modules:

  • Information governance and e-patient records (Wed 5th March 10.00 - 12.00)
  • Using email and the Internet (Wed 5th March 13.00 - 15.00)
  • Introduction to the use of PC's (Thurs 6th March 10.00 - 12.00)
  • Basic Microsoft Word (Thurs 6th March 13.00 - 15.00)

These courses are free to RCN members in March. For details email scotland.library@rcn.org.uk or call 0131 662 6163/4

Resources:

Evaluation of the "Early Adopter" implementation of the NHS Summary Care Record (England): The added evaluation proposal segment, relating to data quality can now be accessed. 
 
A new NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS) website providing information and guidance for healthcare professionals is now available. The website includes guidance to support IM&T planning for Summary Care Record rollout, including communications, data quality, training and HealthSpace.  This guidance can be found within the Summary Care Record section. A dedicated website providing information on the NHS CRS for patients is still available at www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk.

If you are planning to go and see Jump – the movie – don’t!

Best wishes

Sharon  Levy  (Mr)
RCN Informatics Adviser