18 March 2016
After a rather hectic few weeks, I suddenly realised I had effectively failed dismally to meet my self- defined timescale for producing the AHSN’s fortnightly digital health blog; for which, I must humbly apologise.
I read an article recently about the top ten best ever home computers, and spent time reminiscing about the past - the commodore 64, Atari, Sinclair, BBC and the Amstrad (my personal favourite). Although saying that, I did once attempt to throw the printer of my own Amstrad out of a window in my student digs once, when it refused to print my ethics and values assignment!
It is interesting to see how things have moved on so much, and how the gadgets and PCs we use today are so much more portable (I would have needed a crane to lift the Amstrad printer to its demise), and accessible to even the youngest of us. Likewise, we are moving towards an era where data is much more accessible to all of us; not just the techy folk among us.
I am sure this will not be the last time I refer to the following topic, as across the health and social care economy, system leaders are busy developing their local Sustainability and Transformation plans. Embedded within these plans will be the local digital road maps, and the ensuing action plans which will help to turn the digital dream for the NHS into a reality.
This applies to Wessex, and these plans will shift away from being the responsibility of individual organisations to one that will focus on the ‘place’ and meeting the needs of local populations.
As a stepping stone to the 2020 vision (laid out by the National Information Board, in the document Personalised Health and Care 2020), the deliverables for the 2016-17 planning cycle reflected in the STP and focusing on technology include:
While we are becoming more data savvy in health and care, it is also important to recognise that we don’t need to be a data scientist or analyst to get the best out of the data that comes out of our IT systems; we just need to have the right tools and skills.
As organisations, we need to be able to recognise the value of the data we have, how to handle it properly, and know how to use it to create a culture of decision making that is highly influenced by what the data tells us. With support from a well-informed IT department, all staff within an organisation should have access to relevant, easy-to-use and understandable data that lets them to do their jobs well.
On this note, if you are planning to come along to the Wessex Big Data event being held at St Mary's Football Stadium on Tuesday 19 April, you maybe interested in the presentation being delivered by Simon Beaumont (Head of Information at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust) who will be providing an overview of how the Trust has recently implemented Tableau as a mechanism for making data more accessible to clinicians and improving patient care.
As some of you may know, I have become a bit of a rugby fiend since my youngest son took to the pitch a few years ago, although I have not yet been convinced to shift allegiance from my beloved Saints! This weekend I spent two days engrossed in rugby both at an international and local level. I was delighted to learn therefore that even the Six Nations teams are accessing data to enable them to assess their performance and improve their match playing skills in future matches.
I like to end each of my blogs with a quote, so combining my growing love of rugby with the topic of planning, I found this:
‘You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win’
- Zig Ziglar
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