Dear all

We need your help:

RCN’s strategic plan for 2008-2013. The RCN is keen to hear your thoughts on the draft strategic plan. Any comments or suggestions on how to include e-Health within this plan should be emailed to strategic.plan@rcn.org.uk no later than Friday 15 February 2008.

Consultations:

NHS Education for Scotland (NES): Information governance competence framework consultation. The framework aims to provide a firm foundation for the development, commissioning and review of education and training to support effective practice. The consultation closes on 29th February 2008.

In the news:

IN Forum makes history: the first ever RCN e-Newsletter was published today and sent electronically to members.

From the BBC:
What do NHS staff think of e-records?
Medical abbreviations 'pose risk'

Record access in practice. A GP has made a video to encourage patients to access their electronic patient record.

The Information Accreditation Scheme is launched: “…as well as supporting people to make more informed choices and take greater control over their own care, the Information Accreditation Scheme will also support information producers, which will lead to improvements in the quality of information.

Visualizing Electronic Health Records With "Google-Earth for the Body" IBM researchers develop 3-D visualization tool for electronic health records. Another project of interest is the Scottish Medical Visualisation Network, developed by the Digital Design Studio (Glasgow School of Art) in partnership with The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and in association with Vue--The Virtual University of Edinburgh in Second Life.

Resources:

Apart from the RCN Telecare resource, have a look at Healthcare@Home  which tracks patients in the home by enabling devices such as blood glucose and blood pressure monitors to collect and transmit patient health data to their local clinic.

Assessing Risk for Health Care IT Organizations (white paper) Health care providers are adopting health care information technology (IT) to increase productivity, profitability, and the quality of patient care delivery. Adoption of health care IT will continue to expand around the globe, resulting in new challenges for the IT organisation. Health care departments will demand that clinical and business systems be made resistant to interruption and unauthorised access.

NMAHP eHealth: The Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions contribution to realising benefits of the Scottish National eHealth Programme (PDF document)

A new film detailing the experiences of patients and clinicians in Summary Care Record early adopter areas is now available to order, or to download from the NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS) website.

Two new publications are available from the Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care. The first revises and updates the one page summary of ISB H&SC purpose and operations (PDF document).  The second, 'Best Practice for Developing and Appraising Data Elements', informs dataset developers of best practice for specifing individual data elements, the principle being that users need a common understanding of the meaning of data.

Information Governance, transfers of personal data and information mapping. The latest advice on key responsibilities and accountabilities for securing effective information governance, transfers of personal data and information mapping.

Articles of interest

Impact of Web Searching and Social Feedback on Consumer Decision Making: A Prospective Online Experiment. The aim was to study whether searching on the World Wide Web improves consumers’ accuracy in answering health questions and whether consumers’ understanding of health issues is subject to further change under social feedback.

What Do Evaluation Instruments Tell Us About the Quality of Complementary Medicine Information on the Internet? "Comparing the content of websites against a gold standard is time consuming and only feasible for very specific advice. Evaluation instruments offer gateway providers a method to assess websites".

Implementing change in primary care practices using electronic medical records: a conceptual framework. This study explored the process of change used to implement clinical guidelines for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care practices that used a common electronic medical record (EMR).

Jobs

  • Job Reference J59-IH3387154NM2065
    Job Title Clinical Director - Nursing
    Area of Work IHC Directorate Employer Informing Healthcare
    Department: Executive Management Team
    Location Bridgend
    Salary: circa £60,000 pa
    Working pattern: 37.5 Hours/Week
    Job type: Permanent
    Closing date 29/01/2008

 

  • An exciting opportunity has arisen for a clinician to work in the Summary Care Record Programme in the area of Clinical Safety. The successful candidate will develop, lead and manage the clinical safety function of the SCR and HealthSpace Programmes. If you or any of your colleagues are interested then follow the link below to find out more details and how to apply: www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.cgi?selection=911920127

 

  • Clinical input is needed to review the clinical elements of the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity framework. “…we are now at the stage where we need to gather together an evaluation team to evaluate the bids from Suppliers. Critical to this will be the involvement of clinicians and operational staff. We will be undertaking evaluation of the specialist clinical elements of the " Lot" from 14 to the 29 February 2008 inclusive. Evaluation will take place in Leeds. Evaluators are required from specialist areas for a maximum of three days each during the period above". Drop me a line for more information.

Events

A free one day conference from 10am - 4pm on Wednesday 19 March at Congress Hall, London, aims to present the vision of information prescriptions and highlight the tangible benefits and impact. Registration is free but you must register no later than 15 February 2008.

The Challenges of Health Informatics (MS Word document) 
Monday 4 February 2008 at University of Strathclyde
Speaker Ewan Davis Director - Woodcote Consulting and Dr Ian McNicoll from BCS Scottish Health Specialist Group.

Can you believe February is nearly upon us….?!?

Sharon