Archive for the ‘Wales’ Category

« Older Entries

Welsh Smartphone App for AHP’s

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

An app launched by Cardiff University is being used to highlight the importance of the Welsh language in areas such as health, education and social care.

The “App Iechyd Da” app includes information about a variety of Welsh language-specific initiatives such as demographic trends, political directives, economic influences, and useful Welsh language communication guides.

Furthermore, the app contains a Welsh glossary of terms for a variety of areas, ranging from everyday vocabulary to health-specific terminology such as those specifically for Occupational Therapy. These are accompanied by phonetic pronunciations for each term and an extensive directory of industry contacts.

The app is currently available for Apple devices such at the iPhone or iPod Touch, but is to be developed for Android devices in the future.

The School of Healthcare Studies, Cardiff University who developed the App is the leading provider of education for Allied Health Professionals (AHP’s) in Wales and one of the leading schools in the UK. Dr Gwilym Wyn Roberts, an AHP at the school, said the app would be “a valuable tool in academic and clinical studies at all levels and across a variety of programmes.”

Dr Roberts stated the app would help to promote language skills amongst professionals and students which would in turn increase their employability. He also stated that she hoped the the app would encourage non-Welsh speaking students to develop their language skills by undertaking Welsh courses.

Original Source Cardiff University

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Wales | No Comments »

Therapies Waiting List Challenges for NHS Managers

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Health Bosses in the Gwent region of Wales have stated that keeping waiting times for Therapies and Diagnostics low as the key to sustaining overall targets for treatment are proving a challenge.

Diagnostic and Therapy Services for NHS Wales are no longer subject to formal waiting times, but instead have “operational standards” surrounding the maximum amount of time patients should expect to wait. Maintaining the minimum wait for all services is still essential to the achievement of the overall “referral-to-treatment” (RTT) time target of a minimum 95% of patients having an initial contact inside 26 weeks and ensuring that no patients wait outside of 36 weeks unless they personally elect to.

In Wales at the end of July, 7,274 people had waited longer than the standard 8 weeks for a range of diagnostic services, with endoscopy providing by far the biggest proportion, at more than 45%. In Gwent the number of patients waiting was 381 for all diagnostic services, with almost 70% waiting for an endoscopy. Fifty patients in Gwent, out of 253 Wales-wide had also waited longer than the standard 14 weeks for Therapy.

The Aneurin Bevan Health Board report which revealed these concerns has reported however that the area is doing “comparatively well” at minimising the numbers of patients who wait longer than they should for the likes of endoscopy, scans, radiology procedures, and within Therapies.

Trusts will always require accurate knowledge and efficient management of waiting times in order to maintain a high level of patient care, so it is essential that NHS Managers are provided with the best tools to do so. An Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system such as Therapy Manager offers quick and simple waiting list management for all Outpatients awaiting initial contacts which can be delineated by specialty, and allows direct booking from the waiting list. It also produces outputs with provide an accurate and real-time picture on the number of patients waiting and the duration across each service.

Original Source South Wales Argus

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Operational Tips, Performance Management, Wales | No Comments »

Wales to restructure Rural Healthcare

Monday, August 1st, 2011
Welsh health professionals are urging politicians to support proposed changes to rural working practises, saying that reforms to community health services are “necessary and unavoidable”.

Welsh NHS Confederation director Helen Birtwhistle said political leaders should “use their extensive influence in their local communities to support change”.

In the “Prescription for Rural Health 2011” report, the Welsh NHS Confederation outlines a number of examples where the health service demonstrates innovation in it’s delivery of healthcare in rural communities.

The Confederation argues that change is “essential” to enable the NHS to improve the quality and safety of its services. It also says that would allow funds to be freed up to be re-invested in patient care. Ms Birtwhistle admitted that whilst change was “rarely popular”, the NHS in Wales was reaching a critical point where transformational change occurred not just in principle, but in practice.

Ms Birtwhistle adds that due to the lack of funding and resources, the NHS can simply not provide every type of healthcare service in every hospital. In rural Wales specifically, she states that it is also the case that there are too few patients to run certain services safely or effectively. An attempt to maintain every service in every hospital may see resources spread “too thinly” or cause duplication of services.

It is recommended that services are instead centralised into fewer, fully-equipped centres of excellence. Ms Birtwhistle asserts that whilst some patients may need to travel further for specialist, more complex treatment, the majority of their care will be provided much closer to home.

The report points to a range of examples where rural healthcare can be modified and made more effective and efficient. Some examples cites include implementing telemedicine services to allow specialist consultant expertise to be available in GP surgeries.

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said £1 million had been committed to the Rural Health Innovation Fund to improve access to health and social care services in rural areas, using new technology and a collaboration between services.”Providing integrated and accessible health and social care services, in a way which reflects the particular conditions and characteristics of rural Wales, is a key goal in this” he said.

An Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system such Therapy Manager deployed on low-cost netbooks and laptops can help to reduce clinical input, eradicate the costs associated with excess travel and increase capacity and available clinical time.The system has the capacity for patient records to be securely downloaded for use in other geographical areas, and assessments and notes can be recorded and simply uploaded back to the central server on return to an area with network coverage. This can improve visibility of all clinical and administrative activity and improve performance of staff in geographically distributed areas by giving them the necessary tools to work to the best of their abilities.

Original Source WalesOnline

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Wales | No Comments »

Rapid Recovery for knee replacements following Physio

Thursday, June 16th, 2011
The Rapid Recovery programme implemented by clinicians in North Wales has led to halving the time orthopaedic patients spend in hospital following major surgery such as knee replacements.

North Wales has become one of three centres of excellence for Orthopaedic Rapid Recovery in Britain, and the directive helps patients to be walking again within hours of the operation and which could rapidly speed up the time until discharge.

The average hospital stay for knee replacement patients has consequently been reduced from over six days to less than three, with the time being spend instead at the pre-emptive stage with greater focus on pre-operative assessments across a number of services including: physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

The process begins weeks before surgery, when patients are briefed on how to prepare for surgery and are given the expectation of being mobile again within hours of an operation.

According to Neil Windsor from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), the key is mobilising the joints as soon as possible. “This isn’t about rapid discharge – it’s about timely discharge,” he said.

A faster throughput of patients is predicted to lead to increased capacity for the service and also reduce the financial resources associated with this usually costly process.

According to consultant Tony Smith, the programme is also improving patient outcomes by reducing early complication rates and re-admission to hospital for problems such as thrombosis.

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Physiotherapy, Wales | No Comments »

£140 million cost to Wales NHS by obesity and alcohol

Thursday, March 31st, 2011
A study by Swansea University has suggested that obesity and excessive drinking are directly costing the NHS in Wales more than £140 million each year, with indirect costs potentially being even higher.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell said both were preventable health issues and that as a result of these llifestyle behaviours, additional and unnecessary demands were being placed on the service. These pressures will needed to be tackled in a cost-effective way as they are occuring at a time of significant pressure on NHS Wales budgets.

The research, commissioned by the assembly government, put the cost of obesity to the NHS in Wales at £73 million and excessive alcohol consumption at between £69.9-73.3 million. Professor Ceri Phillips who was involved in the study said that it was likely to account for approximately 3% of NHS Wales spending, increasing to 10% if smoking was included.

Dr Jewell said this was the first instance of such an estimate, and stresses that in addition to already implemented legislation and pricing mechanisms, individuals must take responsibility for the health and social risks deriving from these lifestyle choices.

The research emphasises the need to need to better educate the public on the issues of obesity and alcohol abuse via the media.

Specialist dietitian Sioned Quirke reinforced that obesity and it’s derivations are becoming an overwhelming problem for health and the NHS. She reports drastically increasing instances of diabetes, which due to its related complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation is thought to account for 10% of the entire NHS budget within the UK.

Individual case studies however have suggested that the majority of obese individuals have never been referred to a dietician or been provided with effective nutritional advice, suggesting failures in the process of managing obesity.

The Welsh health survey in 2008 said 21% of people in Wales were obese and 57% were either obese or overweight, and with these figures set to rise, the NHS will have to seek other methods for the management and prevention of related issues.

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Dietetics, Wales | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Copyright © 2011 Pathway Software. All rights reserved. Sitemap