The Bristol Fighter T launch

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Walked past the Bristol showrooms – some nice cars inside. So checked the latest news, the launch of the Fighter T in Spetember:

“In 2006, Bristol announced the Fighter T, a turbocharged version of the Fighter with a modified V10 engine producing 1012 bhp and 1036 lb.ft of torque at 4500 rpm. The Fighter T will also benefit from a drag coefficient of Cd 0.27 (improved from Cd 0.28 on the standard model). Bristol claim that the car is capable of more than 270 mph; however it will be electronically limited to a “more than adequate” 225 mph. When the Fighter T goes into production, it will be more powerful than Bugatti Veyron, which has advertised 1001 bhp, but still lower than 2007 SSC Ultimate Aero TT. The first production cars are expected to be delivered in about September 2007.”

The latest answer to shift handover in the NHS

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Stuart Hall

The latest answer to [shift] handover in the NHS, thanks to E-Health Insider:

iSoft chosen as reseller of mobile clinical assistant

Motion Computing have chosen iSoft to be the first UK-based reseller for the C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant, a rugged and washable tablet-PC style device specifically designed to provide doctors and nurses with access to updated patient records and the ability to document a patient’s condition.

Incorporating Intel’s latest wireless technology the MCA features a built-in bar code reader to enable patient wrist bands to be read, a digital camera and an RFID scanner enabling clinical users to be securely identified of drugs to be verified before being given to a patient.

Barcode scanning and RFID should directly help with improved patient identification and safety helping reduce medication errors. Bluetooth connectivity meanwhile will allow the MCA to link to patient diagnostic devices.

The device was first launched in February when prototypes were tested at three pilot sites in North California, Singapore and at England’s Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. iSoft was involved in the UK trials at Salford.

Marc Horowitz, iSoft’s group business development director, said: “We have seen that mobile devices achieve high levels of user satisfaction among doctors since they support decisions at the point of care. Mobility transforms care by helping doctors and care providers deliver the highest quality of care, which is beneficial for them and for patients.”

Trials of the MCA in the UK were first reported by E-Health Insider since October 2006. In the UK, Connecting for Health have been involved with development and iSoft now aim to offer the device to its 8,000 customers worldwide, both in the NHS and globally.

Horowitz added: “MCA is a major advance in mobile healthcare computing and puts computer technology into care environments safely. Having real-time clinical information to support decisions at the point of care will reduce errors and save valuable time, which are significant benefits to clinical staff and patients alike.

“To improve the quality of healthcare and staff workflow, it is vital to have timely and accurate information at the point of care.”

Motion Computing say that iSoft’s commitment to mobile technology makes them an “excellent partner.”

Motion Computing’s head of EMEA, Nigel Owens said: “iSoft has vast experience and market presence and its applications are proven and ideally suited to the MCA platform. Jointly we provide exactly what customers require by capturing information at source, reducing errors, increasing productivity, and cutting costs.”

The news has been welcomed by Connecting for Health who say the Mobile Clinical Assistant is the “missing link”.

Dr Mike Bainbridge, NHS Connecting for Health’s clinical architect, said: “It is the one thing clinicians having been looking for. The fact that we can get information with greater ease and genuinely collaborate for the first time is a major breakthrough. MCA’s features, tailored to clinical use will show some real benefits.

“The MCA is optimised to reduce risk, which is especially vital during the handover of care and at the point of administering prescriptions. With in-built barcode and RFID readers for patient identification and to validate medications, the process is simplified and the risks reduced dramatically.”

“Today technology comes to the aid of those who help others,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO.

“The mobile clinical assistant was defined and shaped by the clinicians who will use it. They have told us it will improve their decision making and patient care while easing overall workloads. This is a great example of putting innovative technology to work solving real needs.”

Motion currently charge $2200 for the unit, and iSoft anticipate selling at the retail price of £1100 or around Euros 1570.

Understanding Patient Safety

Posted on July 17, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Looks like a useful new book by Robert M. Wachter on patient coming out later this year [taken from Amazon]:

Understanding Patient Safety is the essential book for anyone seeking to learn the key clinical, organizational, and systems issues in patient safety. Written in a lively and accessible style by one of the world’s leaders in the fields of patient safety and quality, Understanding Patient Safety is filled with valuable cases and analyses, as well as up-to-date tables, graphics, references and tools – all designed to introduce the patient safety field to medical, nursing, pharmacy, hospital administration and other trainees, and to be the go-to book for experienced clinicians and non-clinicians alike.

Features:

Concise coverage of the core principles of patient safety
All the key insights to help you understand and prevent a broad range of errors: including medication errors, surgical errors, diagnostic errors, errors at the man-machine interface, and nursing-related errors
A focus on how reporting systems, teamwork training, simulation, the malpractice system, and information technology can impact patient safety and quality
A practical overview on how to implement an effective safety program in both hospital and ambulatory settings
Realistic case studies that illustrate key points and clarify pivotal concepts
A detailed glossary, key references, and useful tools, websites, tables, and graphics.

My my its Mark Thomas

Posted on July 16, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Photo by Stuart Glendinning Hall

Went to Rise festival yesterday and managed somehow in buying a Rise badge off a boy for 50p to lose Shirley, though in the process stumbled across Mark Thomas!

I was decked out in my new Busted Tees T-shirt, which led to further comedy later after I found myself surrounded by people doing sign-language on the tube home to Barking.

Down Cleveland Street one day

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Stuart Hall

On Wednesday evening, sipping a pint with Shirley at the George and Dragon when an unshaven Harry Enfield walks by. When he looked like Harry Enfield. Which is funny as I saw his comedy mate Paul Whitehouse just over a year ago. Only Charlie Higson to go to complete the set.

Then Millie walks past and pretends not to see us. Then three guys in cool T-shirts. And a lot of small dogs.

Winston Churchill gets the chop

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Sad to hear Winston Churchill has been dropped from the history syllabus, according to the Sun.

I appreciate not everyone thinks Churchill was a great hero, but that’s no reason to give me the boot, after all who else would have done his job?

So to my one and only Churchill anecdote! Leading European political historian Paul Ginsborg was based at Churchill College, Cambridge, and every evening at ‘formal hall’ you had to make a toast to Churchill the man.

Well, Paul didn’t really like having to do that he told us, his students – but fortunately found a ‘work around’. Recalling a conversation he had with a member of the Italian resistance imprisoned by Mussolini, who said to him that “when they heard Churchill’s name they knew they would soon be free”, Ginsborg said he always thought of that when he made the toast to Churchill.

Change programs will fail if employees don’t grasp the rationale

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Change programs are destined to fail if employees don't understand why the organization is making the change, according to Melcrum's latest study into managing change communication.

In one of the 27 frank interviews with change and communication experts, published in the comprehensive new report Delivering successful change communication, Roger D'Aprix, vice president of ROI Communication and author of Communicating for Change, stresses the importance of keeping the employee perspective in mind at all times. "That's one of the great failings of companies in the midst of change and all the chaos that surrounds it. People tend to forget that there are human beings on the other side." But to create a compelling rationale for change, communicators must look outside the organization, says D'Aprix. "I firmly believe the only way you can rationalize the change is by reference to the marketplace and the forces that are driving the organization." Communicators not linked to external aspects of the business The problem, he continues, is that internal communication professionals are not nearly well enough linked to the external aspects of the business. "My observation is that communication people have been craft people. They've focused on the media and content they create without understanding the organization they're part of, and more particularly the marketplace. This aspect needs work and communicators must pay more attention to it." In the report, D'Aprix summarizes the critical issues employees need to understand, particularly during continuous change, i.e. when change has become "business as usual" for the organization. Employees need to know: 1. Who is our competition? 2. What is the competition doing? 3. What choices does the customer have in dealing with us as an organization? 4. What are the customer's needs and demands? 5. What about our shareholders and the financial community - what are their needs and expectations? 6. What technological forces are affecting our organization, our products and our services? The role of leadership emerges as a common theme The role of leadership during change is another common theme running through the 21 case studies published in the report. Senior communicators from leading global corporations including Shell, Intel, Vodafone and Ford Motor Credit, agreed that visible leadership was crucial to keeping their change programs on track, even when the changes being communicated were unpopular. In a case study on sustaining employee engagement during a major restructuring at Ford Motor Credit, communications director Chris Solie describes how honesty and vision from the company's leaders was key to maintaining morale and engagement. "Employees respect our CEO for giving them the hard facts and presenting them with a plan for the company's future."

"Leadership at a time like this has to be extremely visible and doing lots of face-to-face communication," agrees D'Aprix. "The good, solid leaderships do this fairly naturally. The bad ones keep it all secret and quiet, and pretend that everything is fine. That's a recipe for disaster."

Battle of Brunanburh

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Why is the Battle of Brunanburh important? “This poorly recalled battle is actually one of the most important in British history since Athelstan’s crushing defeat of the combined Norse-Celtic force facing him (King Athelstan) irrevocably confirmed England as an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, forcing the Celtic kingdoms to consolidate in the positions they occupy today.” [Thanks to Wikipedia].

PS: I like the suggestion, having been born in Bebington, that “the Brackenwood golf course was cited in 2004 as a likely site for the Battle of Brunanburh in AD 937″.

Improving businesslink.gov.uk

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Stuart Hall

Looking at the businesslink.gov.uk website, and with experience of working on developing the London version in the past, I came up with one positive way to link up the great factual content on the site with the needs of business owners – a live chat facility for the ‘Starting Up’ section. Specifically in this proposal of mine ‘Live Support’, as used in many e-commerce sites. It’s perhaps one small way of meeting some of the criticisms voiced today on Alex Bellinger’s blog Small Biz Pod at Businesslink in general, and his earlier post on the possible impact of Web 2.0 on Businesslink:

“Business Link advisers need to be facilitators and nodes on the network, not gatekeepers. They need to be keeping communication and mutual support between businesses running smoothly.

“They need to know people, rather than have their computer say no. They need to blog about their local business scene. They need to be creating communities on Facebook. Perhaps they need to be greater in number. Perhaps they should be seconded from real businesses on short term contracts.

“Whatever Business Link becomes it needs to be more than an advice funnel down which anyone interested in business is forced to be added to a total number designed to justify the spend to tax payers.”

PS: I’ve added a comment on the same Small Biz Pod on the wonders of WordFrame for SMEs today, 3 March 2008.

@stuartgh (Plectic Ltd)

Current focus: Making people happy. Using social media tools to achieve this!

Monthly Archives: July 2007