Cameron Backs Nhs South West Online Initiative In Response To Dementia

"Prime Minister David Cameron gave his backing to the NHS Our Health website in the launch of the PM's Challenge on Dementia."

The web platform 'Our Health' will support the PM's challenge on dementia and the major drive by the Government for greater transparency and open data.

In his speech yesterday, Mr Cameron declared that tackling the "national crisis" posed by the disease is one of his personal priorities. He went on to say, "Dementia is simply a terrible disease. And it is a scandal that we as a country haven't kept pace with it. The level of diagnosis, understanding and awareness of dementia is shockingly low. It is as though we've been in collective denial.''

'Our Health' will improve people's access and ability to share information about care services. It integrates social technology, and networking facilities so that patients and carers can connect, share and compare information and experiences. Over time, it will be developed to provide a comprehensive information resource across a wide range of health and care services.

Sharing information in this way will help to drive service improvements as well as involving people in planning their own care. One of the key features of the NHS reforms is the "information revolution" to ensure that patients have greater control and choice over their care.

Richard Gleave, Director of Programmes and Patient Experience at NHS South of England, said "For transparency to be meaningful, people all want access to information that is easy to understand and helps them to make decisions and choices about their care. So this is what we have worked to create with Our Health."

The web platform has been designed and developed by Exeter based digital agency Organic Development.

James Moffat, Managing Director of Organic Development described what Our Health sets out to achieve:

"The site looks to break down the barriers between patients, the NHS and social care, helping service users make informed decisions and take control of their own heath care experience. "

"For us, the challenge has been to make what is potentially a lot of complicated but important information simple, beautiful and accessible for the user, thereby empowering and enabling users of healthcare services. This level of accountability, transparency and ownership of NHS and heath care services has simply never been so easily available before now"

Organic Development has designed the site to ensure it is highly accessible, simple to use and an open service, with the aim of providing a range of benefits to the visitor.

" Visitors to the site will be able to identify services in their local area.

" The performance of these services can then be compared with services locally and across the South West and users can identify the best service for their needs.

" The site will integrate social technology including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and will also provide a forum for people to feedback on their experiences and to connect with others in similar situations.

" Patients, their friends and families will be able to find out more about a particular health condition and look up information on what treatment and services they can expect.

" The information on treatment and care will enable both patients and practitioners to make decisions about their treatment and care.

The service will also provide valuable information for professionals, such as 'what to expect' information sections, directories of local services and performance comparisons between providers across the South West.

Oli Griffiths, Technical Director at Organic Development has been involved with the project from the onset, "This has been an amazing project to work on and it's been great to have been involved from the beginning. The site uses open source technology and is following a collaborative development process that has allowed it to evolve very quickly. The next 12 months will see some interesting further development. This will include a lot more features to ensure the user has a great experience on visiting the site."

About NHS South West

The South West Strategic Health Authority was established on 1 July 2006 is accountable to the Department of Health for the performance of the NHS in the South West.

Their role is to ensure the NHS in the South West is run effectively and that NHS services, staff and organisations are developed to meet the needs of the future. They are a key link between the Department of Health and the local NHS.

by: Brendan Wilde

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