Telecare eNewsletter April 2013

Welcome to the April 2013 newsletter from the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Knowledge Transfer Network and the Telecare Learning and Improvement Network. We are grateful to the HealthTech & Medicines KTN and the TSB's Assisted Living Innovation Platform for providing newsletter funding for another year enabling us to continue to provide the most comprehensive newsletter available serving the telecare, telehealth, mobile health, digital health and assisted living communities.

Our free monthly newsletter is distributed to 48,000 subscribers in the UK and worldwide via e-mail and archived at www.telecarelin.org.uk. You can also find highlights on Prezi (monthly) or Rebelmouse (daily). With over 900 news and events links over the last month, we hope that you find this newsletter useful.

There is a new NHS structure in England which will impact on how digital health is commissioned and provided as part of transformed services. Following the Francis Report on Mid-Staffs Hospital, Don Berwick will be leading on a 'Zero Harm' approach for the NHS. Dame Fiona Caldicott has produced a new report that covers information sharing in the NHS and social care. Work continues on NHS Mandate priorities including access to health records and 3millionlives. Newly formed Clinical Commissioning Groups are looking at how they will provide coordinated and integrated services with social care and housing. There is considerable interest in how 'big data' can be used to progress innovation and develop personalised services. Enthusiasm in mobile health, apps and aspects of telehealth remain high although adoption is often still limited in the UK and other countries. In this edition, there are many examples of how telehealth, telecare, mobile and digital health are producing benefits. There is an updated telecare map and a new telecare and dementia evaluation from East Renfrewshire. With important conferences coming up in Glasgow and London, further case studies and evaluations are expected in the coming months.

The links section is now available in a separate supplement rather than in the main newsletter (doc, pdf). A selection from this month's listing is covered in the newsletter. The newsletter contains a list of KTN/ALIP activities, conferences and workshops from the UK and Europe over the coming weeks as well as news from the UK and around the world. For weekly news, updates and information, you can register with the Technology Strategy Board, ALIP group and the DALLAS sub-group. You can follow the dallas programme on Twitter at @dallas_connect. 3 Million Lives is on Twitter at @3MillLives and also at LinkedIn. If you would like daily information on #telecare and #telehealth, then a Twitter stream is available.