28/03/08: Hicom have successfully achieved N3 connection under the 'NHS Connecting for Health' programme.
N3 provides fast, reliable broadband networking services to the NHS, vital to the delivery of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). N3 is essential to the technical infrastructure of NPfIT through which the benefits to patients, clinicians and the NHS can be realised.
N3 supports several Government polices and initiatives, including modernising public services and creating a knowledge economy based on Information and Communications Technology.
N3 underpins and enables the delivery of new IT systems and services for the NHS, allowing Hicom to provide networked solutions tailored to the needs of individual NHS organisations, including fast transmission of digital images.
By enabling electronic communication between different elements of the NHS, N3 supports ‘Choose and Book’, the NHS Care Records Service, electronic prescriptions, transfer of patient information and many other initiatives which are a part of the NPfIT.
Connections to N3 are strictly controlled by the Connecting for Health Information Governance group, which specifies the security required and data protocols allowed under its Code of Connection agreements.
14/12/07: Metropolitan Police to adopt NBIS.
During a visit to Lambeth by the Home Secretary, it was announced that the Metropolitan Police will adopt the National Business Information System (NBIS) to enhance partnership working with Action Against Business Crime (AABC) accredited Business Crime Reduction Partnerships. To be introduced first in Lambeth, NBIS will also be installed in Lambeth Council’s Community Safety, Public Protection and Licensing Divisions.
The Home Secretary stressed the importance of building partnerships that recognise peoples concerns and the importance of data sharing. She went onto say that “Lambeth is a good example leading the way in tackling crime; part of my job is to spread the good work of Lambeth”.
Stephen Govier, Lambeth Business Crime Prevention Coordinator said “We have moved to adopt not just best practice but to develop better practice. Practice setting the standard for the rest of London to follow.”
Councillor Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Council, welcomed the decision saying Lambeth “wanted to protect staff and customers from violence and NBIS, with Radio Safety Net, provides the essential tools if we are to adopt a united approach towards problematic individuals and problem premises”.
01/08/07: Blackpool BID Installs NBIS
The Blackpool Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) has installed the National Business Information System (NBIS).
NBIS is proving a major factor in tackling crime, anti-social behaviour, begging and street drinking in Blackpool.
Between the system being installed in early summer and the end of September 07, 318 incidents were logged in respect of over 214 offenders.
Donna Jones, the BID crime reduction manager, said: "This will enable businesses to work even more closely and effectively with the police, council and other agencies to tackle those issues that adversely affect our town centre.”
Councillor Tony Williams, chair of Bsafe Blackpool and cabinet member for crime and community safety said: "The NBIS scheme is a great opportunity to share intelligence and pro-actively tackle and deter crime and disorder. Criminals would be well advised to stay away or face the consequences.”
10/04/07: Kent Police ‘Go Live’ with NBIS
Kent Police have now deployed NBIS to every police station in Kent.
This enables selected officers to link into business partnerships. Strict controls have been put into place but it is anticipated that such access will enable officers to carry out enquires and respond more quickly to information. At the same time the NBIS network will enable officers to securely communicate and circulate information directly to relevant partnerships.
03/04/07: Manchester City Centre Management Company
The Business Crime Operation is an initiative developed by Manchester City Centre Management Company in conjunction with city centre retailers and Greater Manchester Police. The scheme was initiated in partnership with Manchester Courts, the Magistrates Association, the Crown Prosecution Service, Manchester Crime Prevention Panel, Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Manchester City Council. It is essentially an information gathering and sharing scheme, which allows known, repeat shop thieves to be targeted, convicted appropriately, and banned from Manchester City Centre through the use of Exclusion Orders. Additionally, the Retail Crime Operation assists in securing Anti-Social Behaviour Orders against persistent offenders and works in conjunction with city centre CCTV monitoring and inter-store radio system. The link to NBIS will not only enhance data capture and reporting but provide a live link to other NBIS schemes in the region.
14/03/07: Wakefield Adopts NBIS
New partnerships are adopting NBIS as part of their key strategy to tackle business crime. Wakefield is one such partnership.
WDBAC (Wakefield District Businesses Against Crime) is an innovative new public/private sector initiative designed to combat business crime within the Wakefield Metropolitan District, a diverse area of approx 320,000 people covering Wakefield, Castleford, Pontefract, Normanton, Knottingley and Featherstone, as well as several smaller towns & villages.
Currently, there are several independent shop and pub watches covering individual locations in Wakefield with little or no co-ordination of activity or intelligence. WDBAC will provide a strategic umbrella for the entire District and will supply the individual watches with effective management, increased intelligence capability (via NBIS) and new funding opportunities.
first; The Wakefield District Development Agency is leading this initiative and has secured Local Area Agreement funding to make it happen. first's experience of business crime initiatives stems from its successful leadership of the award-winning regeneration of Langthwaite Grange Business Park, where crime against businesses was reduced by 70%, and it aims to achieve similar major crime reductions across the District.
WDBAC will build on the notable achievements of the Castleford and South Elmsall & Moorthorpe shop watches, both of which have gained the prestigious Safer Business Award from Action Against Business Crime.
28/02/07 - Prince Charles views Hicom telemedicine patient consulation at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai.
On 28th February H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, formally inaugurated Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai (MEHD).
The first overseas branch of the world-reknowned Moorfields Eye Hospital will open in the Al Razi Medical Complex in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) on May 1, 2007. MEHD is the only specialist eye hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will provide day case surgery and out patient diagnostic and therapeutic services, including emergency care, for a variety of eye surgical and non-surgical medical conditions.
MEHD have chosen Hicom Technology’s Enterprise Clinic Management system ( Enterprise) for the management of patient administration and care in a paperless environment.
During Prince Charles’ visit to MEHD, the Medical Director, Dr Chris Canning, carried out a cyber consultation with a patient using Enterprise’s in-built telemedicine facilities, enabling the patient’s condition and treatment to be reviewed in real-time by specialist consultants in London.
Dr Chris Canning said: “The innovative use of IT within MEHD is an essential component in providing optimum patient care and Hicom’s integrated solution will ensure that we are able to provide world-class diagnosis, treatment and research services.”
Hicom’s Enterprise Clinic Management system is a fully integrated software solution that has been designed to provide end-to-end patient care; from patient scheduling and care planning to diagnosis and treatment. Enterprise integrates seamlessly with MEHD’s clinical and administrative workflows, supported by real-time interfaces with medical diagnostic equipment.
Enterprise encompasses all the facilities required to run a state of the art clinic, including appointment administration, attendance management, out-patient and in-patient care, order management, lab administration, comprehensive clinical records, on-line prescribing, pharmacy administration, patient billing and insurance reconciliation.
Designed for use within a paperless environment, Enterprise incorporates smartcard access facilities for users and patients, paperless prescribing and direct image and data capture facilities from medical diagnostic devices and patient monitoring equipment.
Using Enterprise, the MEHD multi-professional team can access relevant patient data instantaneously, enabling informed clinical decisions to be taken and appropriate levels of patient care to be provided without delay.
Dr Chris canning added: “We are confident that the use of Enterprise will help us manage clinical workflows effectively, ultimately enhancing the quality of patient care”.
Developed using the latest web based technologies, Enterprise facilitates secure access to patients’ records from within MEHD, Moorfields in London, remote screening clinics and the patients themselves.
Sir Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, Chairman of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai is not only a hospital; it will also be a centre for international medical research and training in quality clinical care.”
Moorfields London is renowned for providing one of the best ophthalmic services in the world and the opening of a new branch in Dubai coupled with the pioneering use of IT and software will ensure that Moorfields first-class services can be made available to a wider audience.
27/02/07 - Prince Charles visits state of the art, Hicom powered Imperial College London Diabetes Centre.
H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, visited Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) whilst on a tour of the Gulf states in February. It was on this visit that the Prince made comments regarding McDonald's, the world's biggest fast-food chain, during an event to promote better public health.
The Prince was meeting with nutritionist Nadine Tayara, who explained how local schoolchildren were being encouraged to put fresh fruit and salads in their lunch-boxes each day instead of eating fast food, when he remarked: "Have you got anywhere with McDonald's? Have you tried getting it banned? That is the key."
ICLDC provides a state-of-the-art facility designed to offer patients the optimum level of treatment whilst also supporting research and clinical education. The implementation of DIAMOND Enterprise as a fully integrated health centre management system has delivered ICLDC’s vision to create a virtually paperless environment allowing clinicians the freedom to more effectively treat patients.
Hicom’s Enterprise Clinic Management system is a fully integrated software solution that has been designed to provide end-to-end patient care; from patient scheduling and care planning to diagnosis and treatment. Enterprise integrates seamlessly with clinical and administrative workflows, supported by real-time interfaces with medical diagnostic equipment. Enterprise encompasses all the facilities required to run a state of the art clinic, including appointment administration, attendance management, out-patient and in-patient care, order management, lab administration, comprehensive clinical records, on-line prescribing, pharmacy administration, patient billing and insurance reconciliation.
Designed for use within a paperless environment, Enterprise incorporates smartcard access facilities for users and patients, paperless prescribing and direct image and data capture facilities from medical diagnostic devices and patient monitoring equipment.
Using Enterprise, the multi-professional teams at ICLDC can access relevant patient data instantaneously, enabling informed clinical decisions to be taken and appropriate levels of patient care to be provided without delay. The pioneering use of IT and software at these locations will ensure that first class services can be made available to a wider audience.
30/01/07: Portsmouth Partnership Launch
Vernon Coaker MP; The Under Security of State for Policing, Security and Community Safety launched the Portsmouth Business Crime Reduction Partnership (PBCRP).
The Portsmouth Business Crime Reduction Partnership is a Home Office initiative endorsed by Hampshire Constabulary has been set up with the intention of improving the private sector's approach to proactively combating crime. It is led by businesses from the daytime and night-time economies, working in partnership with the police and other agencies.
The PBCRP has adopted NBIS to record all its incident data to enable them to identify areas of concern and link offender data to other schemes in Hampshire and surrounding police areas.
Gareth Lewis, Head of Loss Prevention for Southern Co-operatives Ltd and a Director of the PBCRP said, "Reducing business crime and reducing crime within our communities are one and the same thing. It therefore makes perfect sense to provide this facility that enables businesses from all corners of Portsmouth to get involved in reducing crime. Our aim is to make Portsmouth a safer place to work in, live in and visit. We aim to succeed.”
Superintendent Richard Rowland said: "I am delighted to have been involved in the Business Crime Reduction Partnership and I know how much work and effort the committee has put into launching this groundbreaking scheme”. One of the key ways that we will drive crime out of the community is by key community members making a stand against crime. The partnership is doing just that, empowering local businesses to work with the police and other agencies to say 'no more' to crime.”
21/11/06: Northern Ireland Police and Belfast City Centre Management (BCCMC) have adopted NBIS as part of their continuing expansion of community support.
BCCMC is a public/private partnership, which draws together key stakeholders from both the private and public sector, to provide a united and common approach to continually improving and regenerating Belfast.
Under the Safer City Agenda and in partnership with the police service of Northern Ireland, they initiated and managed the Citysafe Crimewatch, with the objective to reduce retail crime and the fear of crime in Belfast City Centre.
BCCMC and Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce are committed to making Belfast City Centre and area of excellence for retail, business, arts and culture, leisure and entertainment; creating a clean, safe, accessible and attractive environment for users and visitors to the city centre.
10/10/06: DIAMOND is selected by The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital NHS Trust (Kings Lynn).
The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital King's Lynn NHS Trust is a 485-bed district general hospital providing services to West Norfolk and parts of Breckand, North East Cambridgeshire and South Lincolnshire.
The Trust is of the 12 most efficient hospital Trusts in England, in terms of value for money and managing our operational costs, with administration costs of just 4.5% of their income.
Diabetes services have developed rapidly over the last few years with the opening of a Diabetes Centre. Clinics for new patients, follow up appointments, joint antenatal, diabetic foot and young persons are provided at the centre.
Computerisation of the service by DIAMOND, offers a single point of data entry with improved communications between all healthcare professionals and will assist clincians in making informed decisions based on accurate and timely information.
22/09/06: Crawley & Gatwick BusinessWatch upgrade to NBIS.
We are pleased to announce that Crawley and Gatwick BusinessWatch have just upgraded from BICS to NBIS. Combined with reorganised management infrastructure, the partnership is already reaping the benefits of national data sharing enabled by NBIS.
The new board of management consists of representatives from CADIA, County Mall Centre Management, Sussex Police, Community Safety, Town Centre Management, Crawley Borough Council, British Airports Authority and managers from the retail sector.
Sussex Police are working in close partnership with BusinessWatch and has had some terrific results.
01/09/06: Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust adopts DIAMOND to manage Diabetes care
The Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust is the second site in Wales to adopt DIAMOND to manage Diabetes care.
The Trust was formed in 1999 when the Glan Clwyd District General Hospital NHS Trust merged with part of the Clwydian Community Care NHS Trust and Gwynedd Community Health Trust.
The Trust provides a full range of Acute, Community and Mental Health Services to central North Wales and is one of the biggest employers in North Wales with around 5,150.
28/08/06: Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin
Hicom have tailored DIAMOND.net specifically for the treatment of children with diabetes at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin.
Our Lady's is an acute paediatric teaching hospital with 243 beds, employing 1,200 staff. It is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital and is responsible for the provision of the majority of tertiary care services for children and medical research for childhood illnesses.
The services provided are underpinned by a commitment to medical and nurse education to the development of the skills of staff generally. The hospital first opened its doors in 1956 and was specifically designed to care for and treat sick children.
20/07/06: M&S choose Hicom Crime Incident Management System
We are pleased to announce that Marks and Spencer have chosen Hicom Business Solutions to supply and host their new Crime Incident Management system.
The service will be powered by arena, Hicom's new Enterprise Risk Management solution, and will provide each M&S store with an easy to use interface reducing the overall time taken to report crime whilst also improving compliance and the quality of the data recorded.
To further enhance their ability to deter crime and better protect their staff and profits, M&S will also be using arena to share crime incident intelligence with other participating retailers and NBIS users throughout the UK.
19/07/06: Wales Deanery – On-line study leave application administration system
The Intrepid module for On-Line Study Leave Application Administration has been adopted by the Wales Deanery to support the study leave application process, providing trainees with the facility to record leave applications, and approvers the facility to authorise or reject leave applications on-line.
Several new higher professional education opportunities, unique to Wales, are now on offer including salaried academic fellowships. Such salaried schemes enable participants to consolidate the skills required for high performance in their future core medical generalist roles, as well providing significant secondment opportunities.
Using the On-Line Study Leave system, a doctor will be able to review a history of all leave applications, including leave taken, pending leave applications and rejected applications. Similarly, an approver can review a history of all the applications he or she has approved and/or rejected.
18/07/06: Lambeth Business Against Crime adopt NBIS
Lambeth Business Against Crime (LBAC) who have just been awarded the AABC Safer Business Award are to adopt NBIS to record and analyse their partnership data.
One of the key aspects for LBAC is the automatic 'link offender' notification, which is part of the NBIS communications package. LBAC has been provided with office accommodation by a local businessman and have just appointed a full time Business Crime Prevention Co-ordinator to oversee the partnership and its development.
LBAC who embrace both night time and evening economies, are now working towards the Safer Socialising Award.
07/06/06: DIAMOND Clinic Management for ICL Diabetes Centre
The state-of-the-art Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) opened its doors to diabetes patients in Abu Dhabi on 6th June, with the installation of DIAMOND as a fully integrated health centre management system.
Established in a partnership by Mubadala Development Company and Imperial College London, the Centre is equipped to provide the highest level of specialised patient care from first diagnosis to the management of all the complications associated with diabetes. Using comprehensive diagnostic facilities including digital retinal photography, retinal laser machines, and the latest in cardiac echocardiography imaging and stress testing to detect the earliest signs of heart disease, the Centre is set to become the leading diabetes research resource in the region.
DIAMOND manages patient booking and appointment management, scheduling, nurse allocation and the assessment areas, with interfaces to ECG and blood pressure machines. The movements of patients within the Centre are monitored with the use of Smartcards as their treatment is administered. The system manages samples and the entire pathology department, with interfaces to six pathology machines. Diabetologists, Cardiologists, Nephrologists and other clinical specialists have access to all relevant patient data and history, including images captured from retinal cameras, echocardiograms, ultrasound, portable blood pressure devices and glucose meters, enabling the most appropriate level of patient care to be provided. Based on this wealth of information, as treatment decisions are taken DIAMOND enables the doctor to prescribe the relevant drugs, whilst managing the pharmacy and providing a stock and sales analysis facility. At the end of the visit, the system generates the patient's invoice, informs the relevant insurance company and updates the Oracle financial management system, so providing the Centre with real-time, end-to-end electronic patient management in a paperless environment.
16/12/05: Northern Ireland - Diamond EPR for Diabetes
Northern Ireland has approximately 40,000 people who have been diagnosed with Diabetes and it is estimated that a further 25,000 people are as yet undiagnosed.
The Ulster community and hospitals National Health Service trust established a Diabetes forum in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1998. The primary objective of the forum was to advance patient care through the development of a fully integrated district wide diabetes care network. The district wide diabetes service covers 60 GP surgeries (most of which provide dedicated diabetes clinics) and four hospital/community based general diabetes clinics each week.
Please click here to read the full article from the European Endocrine Review.
09/12/05: Royal Glamorgan Hospital install fully integrated DIAMOND.
We are pleased to announce that the Royal Glamorgan Hospital has purchased a fully integrated Diamond package with a vision for a paperless Diabetes Management System.
This is Hicom's first Diamond installation in Wales, however further Trusts in Wales are beginning to embark on the road to purchasing systems for Diabetes Management, so we hope to announce further news in early 2006.
05/10/05: NBIS Wins Security Excellence Award!
Hicom is delighted to announce that NBIS has won the Security Excellence Award for Best IT Initiative.
This category was to award the individualor organisation that has made the most positive use of IT in the security sector.
The judges were looking for innovative new software, intranets or communication solutions that had a quantifiable benefit to the security sector. On the basis of these criteria the National Business Information System was selected as the winner in this very competitive category.
To find out more about the Security Excellence Awards, please click here....
26/09/05: SE Regional Winner - E-Commerce Awards
NBIS has won the "Best Use of Broadband" category in the South East regional final of the E-Commerce Awards.
The E-Commerce Awards have been designed to recognise and reward those organisations that have demonstrated excellence through the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies. The awards are run by the Department of Trade and Industry, and by InterForum, a not for profit organisation that helps British business to trade electronically.
In order to reach this stage in the category of Best Use of Broadband, Hicom was required to describe how broadband made the implementation of NBIS as a national secure network, viable enabling the successful creation of a Virtual Private Network, to facilitate the development of a stand alone business crime reduction system (BICS), into NBIS; a network linking Business Crime Reduction Partnerships.
The VPN technology that hosts NBIS, offered a realistic alternative to a dedicated Wide Area Network, enabling the secure connection of partnership schemes to a national system, without the use of expensive, privately leased lines between sites. Each scheme is connected via a router and a dedicated DSL BT line to the NBIS network residing on a private BT circuit. The VPN network has assurance level EAL2 to address HMG Infosec Standard No1 (IS1)[2] for confidentiality, integrity, authentication, non-repudiation and availability.
