EHI Awards 2012: and the winners are…

A programme to improve the IT systems that support the UK’s armed forces emerged as the overall winner of the EHI Awards 2012 in association with BT.

The Defence Medical Information Capability Programme won the ‘excellence in major healthcare IT development’ category right at the start of the awards ceremony in London’s Covent Garden last night.

And it then emerged as the overall winner at the end of the evening. The programme, led by Logica, provides a single record for each patient, based on the EMIS PCS system used in many GP surgeries, and the System C Medway system that is used in acute hospitals.

This year’s awards received a record number of entries, with shortlisted projects asked to present at a judging day earlier this year. The overall award winner was picked at the end of the day from the twelve category winners.

EHealth Insider director Linda Davidson said: “The entries provided a fascinating snapshot of the work going in UK healthcare IT. The finalists really are the pick of the crop, and demonstrate a wealth of talent in our sector.

“The dedication applied to improving patient care was astonishing, and we salute all the finalists and winners for their work.”

The winner of the Healthcare IT Champion of the Year, a special category of the awards decided by readers of eHealth Insider, was Neil Darvill, the director of health informatics at St Helens and Knowlsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

His nomination described him as “both knowledgeable and approachable” and commended him for engaging staff “in the unglamorous side of creating good quality infrastructure and support” to his trust, including new bed management, order communications and e-discharge systems.

The full list of winners from last night’s awards is:

MOST PROMISING IT TO SUPPORT CLINICAL COMMISSIONING, sponsored by BCS Primary Health Care Specialist Group: Staffordshire Commissioning Support Services – Working for patients and efficiency.

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTHCARE, sponsored by #NHSSM: Breaking Free Online – Breaking Free Online.

OUTSTANDING WORK IN IT-ENABLED CHANGE IN HEALTHCARE, sponsored by Highlands and Islands Enterprise: The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust – first UK IT-enabled case management system.

BEST USE OF TELEHEALTH AND TELECARE, sponsored by Capita Clinical Solutions: NHS Lothian and East Lothian Council – telecare in care homes to reduce falls.

BEST USE OF IT TO PROMOTE PATIENT SAFETY, sponsored by First DataBank: Public Health Wales – Harm Reduction Database Wales.

BEST USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE, sponsored by IMS Maxims: Emergency Medical Retrieval Service – mobile technology for a national aeromedical critical care retrieval service.

EXCELLENCE IN MAJOR HEALTHCARE IT DEVELOPMENT, sponsored by Oracle: Logica – Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP).

HEALTHCARE IT PRODUCT INNOVATION, sponsored by Quicksilver: Mongoose and NHS Mid Yorkshire HealthView – medical search engine for patient data.

OUTSTANDING WORK IN HEALTHCARE IMAGING INFORMATICS, sponsored by the UK Imaging Informatics Group: Burnbank Systems – Image Exchange Portal.

THE CCIO AWARD FOR CLINICAL IT LEADERSHIP, sponsored by InterSystems: Department of Health Informatics Directorate Clinical Division – Leadership for Informed Practice Programme.

INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE INTEGRATION. sponsored by EHI Intelligence: The Scottish Government – Eyecare Integration Project.

OVERALL WINNER, sponsored by BT Health: Logica – Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP).

HEALTHCARE IT CHAMPION OF THE YEAR, sponsored by CSC: Neil Darvill – director of health informatics, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Read more about the evening and the instant reactions of the winners in Insight.