PDAs in NHS

[marc_epstein]

I heard from a colleague that a few UK hospitals (including the Lister in Stevenage) give doctors PDAs to create and manage patient lists. Patient lists can be created and updated on the users PDA and information can be beamed to other users to facilitate handover etc.

Does anyone know about this or is it a rumour? What software is being used?

Thanks.

[Admin]

I know that a few hospitals have given doctors PDAs in the past. I'm not up-to-date with which are doing so at the moment though. Leicester used to use MedHand Dr Companion software although that is more reference software than patient management.

For making patient lists, I'd recommend HanDBase from www.ddhsoftware.com as you can pretty much make any kind of database you like with the software including patient lists which can be beamed to each other. You can also encrypt the database to protect the data.

[karnesh]

Yes, back when I did my PRHO year or FY2 (I forget which it was), Leicester were giving out PDA's with medical reference software on it (I graduated from Leicester). But I don't remember having a patient database on my PDA at the time.

I think this is still a new concept, and is going to take time to sink in to the IT sector of the NHS....especially considering they can't even pull it together to create a single IT system for everyone that will last into the future.

[marc_epstein]

If PDAs are to become standard in the NHS, there would have to be a scheme to ensure all docs had access to them. In Leicester, were the PDAs loaned to you free of charge for the duration of your placement? If so, I presume you had to place a deposit. Was there an option for you to buy the PDA with the on-board software outright?

Marc.

[saima2860]

Hi I am SHO in ST1 in Heartland, b'ham. I donot know about NHS providing PDAs to doctors but here we use pdas for hand overs in ortho.

[Admin]

Hi Saima,

Sorry, but we don't allow links to pirated software on this site. I've removed the link from your post.