CfH announces awards for health IT innovation

 Entries have opened for the 2006 Health Informatics Accolade Scheme, which aim to reward the innovative use of technology in the NHS for both clinical and non-clinical purposes.

NHS Connecting for Health is offering five prizes of £5000 each for organisations that demonstrate innovation in health informatics. Projects will be judged by CfH and professional organisations UKCHIP and ASSIST.

Siobhan Roberts, scheme manager, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the quality of the submissions received since the awards were launched – health informatics professionals are at the heart of improvements to patient services."

The theme of this year’s awards will be "The Clinical and Informatics Partnership", focusing on shared goals between IT professionals and clinicians. Judges will be looking for a wide range of projects, both small and large-scale, as long as they can be demonstrated to illustrate links between informatics and healthcare.

Previously short-listed organisations include Hillingdon PCT, for its project in sharing patient data across mental health institutions in the trust, and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which issued healthcare professionals with PDAs storing clinical reference information and evaluated how they were used.

The Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust was nominated for its Children’s Services Network, a shortcut on the desktop of every staff PC that led to information on local resources for care of children, access to electronic journals and relevant contacts. And Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS Trust (now Heart of England) for its patient-focused information database.

The criteria which judges will consider are value for money, originality of idea, best practice and the benefits to staff and patients, and entries will also have to explain how the £5000 prize would be spent if successful.

The deadline for entries is 7 April 2006, with prizes being awarded on 16 May, and the competition is open to everybody in health informatics in all NHS organisations.

Links

NHS Leadership in Health Accolade Scheme