Category: Hospitals

Cambridge University Hospitals’ Epic £200m IT project

ComputerWeekly.com has published an article by me on Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s £200m installation of software from Epic and hardware and networking kit from HP. I reckon I’m safe describing it as one of the biggest IT projects ever undertaken by a single NHS trust.

A huge amount of work went into deciding how much to alter processes and how much to alter software. As chief clinical information officer Dr Afzal Chaudhry told me: “It wasn’t a question of fitting our hospital to the system, but fitting the system and the workflows to care for our patients.” Continue reading “Cambridge University Hospitals’ Epic £200m IT project”

Treating cancer with genomics data for ComputerWeekly.com

I have written an article for ComputerWeekly.com on how big data and genomics are combining to treat cancer, specifically by using the DNA of cancerous cells to help choose which medicines and treatments to use for a patient. Stratified medicine (using different treatments depending on the patient, rather than just the type and stage of cancer) is already a reality, particularly for breast cancer.

But a major trial offering a range of new treatments for advanced lung cancer – the National Lung Matrix Trial run by Cancer Research UK, NHS trusts and drug companies – looks set to take this concept significantly further. Continue reading “Treating cancer with genomics data for ComputerWeekly.com”

How Scotland’s NHS would be affected by a yes vote

Scotland has controlled its own health services since devolution in 1999, but independence could affect policy and funding

• How would social care be different in an independent Scotland?

Today and tomorrow, I will be writing updates on Scotland’s referendum on independence every few hours for Beacon. To clarify, in the title ‘The end of Britain, possibly – LIVE!’, Britain refers to the country also known as the UK, not the islands we’re sitting on just off the north-west coast of Europe…

Whatever happens, the sun is going to rise over the islands tomorrow morning. Possibly behind some clouds, but that’s normal.

Below is my piece for Guardian Healthcare Professionals, published on Tuesday, looking at how NHS Scotland may fare under independence. Continue reading “How Scotland’s NHS would be affected by a yes vote”

Why Britain might love its socialised healthcare to death

The National Health Service combines local heritage, British fair play and free, good-quality healthcare with the employment of more than one million people in England alone. That gives the NHS enormous popularity – and also makes it very difficult to reform.

Originally published on Beacon.

Continue reading “Why Britain might love its socialised healthcare to death”

Aberdeen’s NHS centre for Guardian; its views on referendum for Beacon

Two articles on Aberdeen, one for the Guardian’s Society section, one kicking off my Ends of Britain series on Beacon. The Guardian piece focuses on the Aberdeen health village, a newly-opened NHS Grampian centre in the city centre. It’s of interest because it is the first to be funded by the Scottish Futures Trust, Scotland’s antidote to PFI funding. The detail is in the article, but essentially the public sector is involved on both the customer and supplier sides. Continue reading “Aberdeen’s NHS centre for Guardian; its views on referendum for Beacon”