Trust has its head in the e-health cloud

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is to go-live with a demonstration of a cloud-based IT infrastructure next month.

The trust has been working in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University and a number of other partners to develop the E-Health Cloud.

The development is part of the Data Capture and Auto Identification Reference Project (DACAR), which received funding from the Technology and Strategy Board in 2009.

DACAR is intended to construct in-the-cloud connectivity using smart devices and system integration, including HL7 and GS1 RFID standards, and ultimately to commercialise the technology.

Project coordinator Dr Christoph Thuemmler told eHealth Insider that next month’s launch will focus on how cloud-based infrastructure can be used for asset tracking, using dummy data and a simulated supply chain.

It will also use a patient simulator to create patient records with different clinical parameters, such as body temperature and blood pressure, to represent different patient illnesses.

The system will assess these variables to deliver an early warning score to staff, so they can identify problems earlier. The demonstration is intended to increase public trust in next generation healthcare.

Ultimately, the project aims to promote the seamless sharing of information between GPs, patients and consultants.

“If a patient’s data is shared between a GP and a consultant, or if a doctor refers a case on to someone else, the patient should be able to see that," Dr Thuemmler said.

However, he said that establishing such a system, and extending it so patients could also have control of their data, was difficult because of the need to secure ethical approval and to overcome healthcare boundaries.

“We can do quite a lot of things and we would like to import these things into the NHS," said Dr Thuemmler, who is Professor of eHealth at Edinburgh Napier University and a consultant physician at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

"We would also like to do it much faster than we actually can do it - and that they will let us do it."

Cloud service provider Flexiant has joined the project as a collaborator. The project is using its Extility cloud platform.

The company has also implemented a multi-factor authentication process for the demonstrator, using technology that builds on integration with existing NHS systems.

Professor Bill Buchanan of Edinburgh University said the system was much more robust than current data storage and sharing in the NHS.

“The current infrastructure in the UK often has a non-integrated approach to patient care, where data is not used effectively between GP, hospital and assisted living.”

“Our system allows for data to be stored with its context, such as where it was captured, and then used in whatever way is necessary through well-managed clinical services.”

Read more about EHI's recent visit to see the IT in use at Chelsea and Westminister in the Insight section.