An ambulance computer system that enables paramedics to hand over patient details electronically to A&E staff scooped the top prize in the E-Health Insider Awards 2010 in association with BT.
The cab-based terminal developed by the Scottish Ambulance Service was judged Overall Winner and also Winner of the category for Best Use of Mobile Technology.
Other category winners included: a bedside alerting system that helps staff to improve care for acutely ill patients; telemedicine that brings immediate expert help to patients who have suffered a stroke and a national information strategy supporting improved care for people with haemophilia.
The awards were presented at the Grand Connaught Rooms in central London (6 October) at a ceremony hosted by the comedian, Marcus Brigstocke. Now in their fourth year, the awards are designed to recognise and reward the efforts of outstanding teams and individuals in UK healthcare information technology.
There were 11 categories in total, with awards for:
Healthcare IT team of the year, sponsored by iSOFT
- Avon IM&T Consortium, hosted by NHS Bristol
Best use of IT to promote patient safety, sponsored by First DataBank Europe
- Bedside observation recognition and alerting system, Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
Best use of mobile technology in healthcare, sponsored by EHI Primary Care
- Cab based terminal, Scottish Ambulance Service
Best use of IT in patient and citizen involvement in healthcare, sponsored by Cerner
- The Patient Concerns Inventory, University Hospital Aintree Foundation Trust
Healthcare IT product innovation, sponsored by Quicksilva
- EMIS Web, EMIS
- Biodose Total Medication Management System, Protomed
Excellence in healthcare information management, sponsored by EHI Intelligence
- Nursing Metrics, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust
Excellence in major healthcare IT development, sponsored by Oracle Healthcare
- The UK Haemophilia Informatics Strategy, Medical Data Solutions and Services
- Improving patient care using the RiO community and mental health electronic patient record system, London and Southern Programme for IT
Best use of telehealth and telecare, sponsored by the BCS Primary Health Care Specialist Group
- Telemedicine to deliver 24/7 stroke thrombolysis, East of England Strategic Health Authority
Innovation in healthcare interoperability, sponsored by InterSystems
- Image Exchange Portal, Department of Health, NHS Connecting for Health and Burnbank Systems
Healthcare IT champion of the year, sponsored by E-Health Insider
- John Thornbury, ICT Director, Worcestershire Royal Hospitals
Overall winner, sponsored by BT
- Cab based terminal, Scottish Ambulance Service
The awards are hosted and organised by the healthcare IT sector's leading online publication, E-Health Insider, in partnership with the UK's largest supplier of healthcare IT services, BT Health.
Jon Hoeksma, Editor of E-Health Insider said: "The E-Health Insider Awards 2010 in association with BT attracted a record number of entries and votes for our Healthcare IT Champion. They are a bellwether for the health and vitality of this important sector and show that healthcare IT is still producing great innovation and excellent work by teams and individuals.
"We face a period of austerity in public services, but it is clear that the coalition government's plans for healthcare will make ever-increasing demands on the skills of the health IT community in the NHS and industry. Ambitions to provide more choice, enable patients to control their own records and improve the commissioning of health services all need to be underpinned by excellent IT. The awards provide a great showcase for the talent available to tackle those reforms."
Clay Van Doren, President of Global Health for BT, said: "BT is proud to support the E-Health Insider Awards for the fourth year in succession.
"Once again, the judges panel had an extremely difficult job with some really outstanding entries, which highlights the rich vein of talent that exists in healthcare IT in this country.
"It has truly been a pleasure to be part of the awards this evening. They shine a light on this important part of the health service which often doesn't get the visibility it deserves.
"As one of the largest suppliers of ICT to the NHS, BT knows, if properly harnessed, ICT can help deliver the efficiencies and productivity gains the NHS needs to make over the coming years."
For further information, please visit:
http://www.ehealthawards.com
About E-Health Insider
E-Health Insider, www.e-health-insider.com is the only independent online news and information service dedicated to UK healthcare information technology. Over 24,000 IT industry and NHS professionals are registered users of the E-Health Insider portal and readers of its weekly, e-mailed newsletter.
About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions serving customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. BT's principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services.
BT has been working with the NHS since it was founded in 1948 and currently has around 2,000 highly-trained people dedicated to healthcare projects. Its network and integration expertise, backed by world-class delivery partnerships, is helping the way health professionals communicate and deliver patient care.