Scotland's pioneering Digital Health Institute was officially launched in Edinburgh to an audience of leading figures in the global healthcare sector and multi-national technology companies. The DHI, a collaborative partnership between public and private organisations, brings together the country's leading health and care operators and engages technology businesses across Europe, the United States and Asia to speed up research and development in order to produce innovative new technologies that will transform the quality of people's lives and help Scotland become an exporter of world-leading products and services.

Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is providing its healthcare professionals with access to a new, interactive online training solution from Elsevier that enables staff to improve patient care and record their annual learning. The trust has implemented the online training tool following a needs analysis carried out after the Francis Report.

By Colin Reid, CEO of TotalMobile Ltd.
It is no secret that health and social care integration is high on the UK Government's agenda, particularly in regards to looking after older people. Our aging society is forcing local organisations such as councils, NHS trusts, GPs and their Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to work closer together, and there is a lot of strategic discussion and debate as to how to meet the Government's directives.

Advanced Health & Care (Advanced) has announced the launch of Caresys version 8, the latest version of the software company's widely used end-to-end care home management solution. The new version includes many new features including an updated user interface, designed to enhance navigation.

Eucomed, the European medical technology industry association, welcomes the majority of measures adopted in a plenary vote by the European Parliament on the revision of the EU Medical Devices Directive (MDD). Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted for much-needed measures to improve Europe's notified body system, increase the transparency and traceability of medical devices, introduce unannounced site visits and provide for better stakeholder involvement.

Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (RLBUHT) has implemented a vendor neutral archive (VNA) to store millions of medical images from its new picture archive and communications system (PACS) to underpin its electronic patient record strategy. The new system will allow clinicians to access and share images and other electronic patient notes from any location or device in a fraction of the time previously taken.

By Shane Tickell, CEO of IMS MAXIMS.
The past is not a prediction of the future and much has changed in the 11 years since the inception of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). Clinicians are more engaged in IT, technology is more affordable and a whole raft of new systems are available to address the challenges of the modern NHS. So why do many frontline staff continue to be sceptical about its benefits and will this ever change?