Ten UK health tech start-ups to receive £40,000 through KQ accelerator
Ten UK start-ups working at the intersection of biomedical and data science have now been selected to take part in the £400,000, 16-week KQ (Knowledge Quarter) Labs accelerator run by the Francis Crick Institute in London, meant to speed up development and adoption of data-driven technologies addressing global health challenges.
Vision Game Labs, which is creating home-monitoring and remote-diagnosis vision kits for smartphones, using gaming techniques to gather visual data and diagnose eye disease, is one of the start-ups that will receive £40,000 to validate their business proposals through the programme, which is funded by Innovate UK, before looking for further investment.
“The start-ups all have the potential to make an impact on global health outcomes and will have access to unrivaled support and resources.
“These ventures will help shape the future of health in a sector that is a vital part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy,” said Chris Sawyer, Innovation Lead, Digital Health at Innovate UK.
Ireland’s largest acute hospital finalises Cerner Millennium implementation
Ireland’s St James’s Hospital has now completed the rollout of the Cerner EPR, with every inpatient specialty and department going live with upgraded Millennium functionality in a programme labelled “Project Oak” – referencing the move away from paper-based processes.
The functionality is set to reduce duplication and allow quicker access to clinical information, with 2,400 staff members receiving more than 21,000 hours of training ahead of the implementation, according to the supplier.
“We are in the early stages of the launch, but careful planning has ensured that patient care has not been disrupted significantly over the weekend,” said Dr. Gráinne Courtney, Chief Clinical Information Officer at St James’s Hospital.
“The implementation of this system is set to bring a raft of benefits to patients attending the hospital as health records are available instantly to those caring for a patient. Increased efficiencies mean patients will wait less time for their diagnoses, treatments and care. Over the course of the coming months and years we anticipate this will translate into shorter wait times and hospital stays.”
HITN sister publication MobiHealthNews reported last month that the European Investment Bank was backing the implementation of Ireland’s eHealth programme with a €225m loan to support the creation of a “modern patient-centred health service”, according to Health Minister Simon Harris.
NHS trust goes live with Patient Administration System
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with an Allscripts Patient Administration System (PAS) in a project that involved the migration of 42 million records to the new system. The trust runs five hospitals and community clinics, providing a range of services to a local population of around 695,000 people.
“Deploying a new PAS is a major undertaking, but our old system was outdated and we had to change it to move onto the next stage of our IT development," said Andy Barker, East Kent Hospitals IT Director. "The Allscripts PAS gives us the platform to move forward with an electronic patient record."
East Kent Hospitals ran a joint procurement for a new PAS with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust back in 2015. Both trusts will now be deploying the Allscripts Sunrise EPR. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells went live with the Allscripts PAS in 2017.
Neurology advice line for GPs saves the NHS £100,000 a year
An advice line run by the Walton Centre, a specialist hospital trust, in Liverpool, enabling GPs in the north west of England to call neuro consultants for advice, reducing the need for additional appointments, is saving the NHS £100,000 a year. According to NHS England, nearly 40 per cent of 181 calls received in 2017-18 were solved by GPs, saving around £52,000.
Karen Kirkham, NHS England National Clinical Advisor for Primary Care, said the NHS would be looking to scale up similar innovations, with a long-term plan expected to be published later this year.
“The Walton Centre’s advice line is an example of integrated care in action, connecting GPs with hospital specialists to provide more joined up care for patients. We often find these kind of improvements also make savings that can be reinvested back into the local NHS.
“In this case patients also need less time off work because they need fewer appointments and to travel less, which is also good for the environment,” Kirkham added.
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