The directory will be a trusted listing of online health and care tools, all of which will be accessible from mobile devices or PCs. The tools will help people use good information to make choices about their health and care. People will be able to input their own health details to receive personalised information through the tool and then share this with their clinicians or care staff if they choose to do so.

The directory will cover a wide spectrum of health and care. Examples of the sort of online tool that would be included in the directory include:

• Care planning to support people living with one or more long-term condition in which they can create online care plans, record their experiences and invite their carers to see these online
• Information and advice for older people, particularly if this can help reduce isolation and loneliness
• Networks for patients with specific health conditions that allow them to link up with similar patients, share information and their experiences and provide feedback on services.

To be revealed at Innovation Expo in March 2013, the first version of the directory of online tools will showcase the best customer focussed innovation in health and care and feature in the exhibition’s App Zone.

Developers and organisations who want to get involved should email tools.feedback@nhs.net to arrange to speak to the team, or straight to the app submission form at http://apps.nhs.uk.

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Emily Skeet, of Staffordshire County Council, has been involved in the development of “Me, Myself and I”, a self-assessment, support, planning and signposting app which uses game technology:

Jenny Ritchie-Campbell, Director of Cancer Services Innovation at Macmillan Cancer Support discussed the types of apps which have been of interest to her:

Katie O’Donovan from Mumsnet spoke about a few apps, namely “Patient Knows Best”, “PTSD for sexual assault victims”, and the “Couch to 5k” app from NHS Choices:

Dr Mohammed al-Ubaydli spoke about the “Patients Know Best” app, with its focus on the patient and technology which allowed the sharing of records:

Sarah Amani of the Early Intervention Psychosis Team at Surrey and Borders NHS Foundation Trust discussed their app, one which helps young people identify early signs of mental illness and find their local services.

Giles Wilmore, of the NHS Information Strategy, discussed the variety of organisations that had been involved in the project, and the rapidly-evolving world of healthcare:

Shaibal Roy spoke about the benefits of the event, and offered some thoughts about the future direction of the Maps and Apps project.

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Summary

Andrew Lansley talks about:

• the background to the event – how hundreds of maps and apps, and thousands of online comments, have created an exciting community of interest
• his appreciation of the work of the judges
• some of the maps and apps he saw at the event, including those to help people
• manage their mental health including post traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety
• access NHS services
• find a GP
• research health outcomes for bowel cancer
• excitement about opportunities for new maps and apps
• the importance of  finding out what patients are saying, and what patients want
• how the internet, and maps and apps, can help the NHS shorten the distance between people, design better services around patients, and reduce bureaucracy

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We had a neat internally-rhyming name for it, some excellent people involved, and we knew that we could find examples of apps being used for health and care. But I don’t think we anticipated the reaction from the fledgling community, or how far the apps we identified were already changing people’s lives.

>> Read the full blog from Stephen Hale

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Fire Department App – PSA from Fire Department on Vimeo.

The story behind the app reads like a QIPP dream: collaboration between a local emergency service, a local council and a local university to drive a completely new way of working for improved clinical outcomes and patient safety.

If you have another 2 minutes, I encourage you to read the feedback for this app.

Heroic apps for medical emergencies
Building from this inspiring example, what would an in-hospital app for cardiac arrest look like? I expect clinicians would want to resuscitate cardiac arrest patients in line with best practice guidelines.

So what would the outcome be of crossing existing apps for resuscitation guidelines and ECG measurement?

Then how could an attachment for an Automated External Defibrillators complete the chain, and help intervene in a cardiac arrest?

Crowdsourcing heroic health apps

Whereas in our original Maps and Apps project it would have been useful enough to share these ideas and spread awareness of the Fire Department app, in my opinion the next stage of Maps and Apps needs to focus much more on influencing action.

So if cardiac arrest is an area of focus, then let’s reach out as a community to cardiologists, critical care outreach teams and cardiac specialist nurses. We should ask the Resuscitation Council to share their plans for apps, and ask the makers of iCard ECG to share their vision.

Hopefully this will energise new champions to take the work forward.

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Julie highlights the benefits for patients of being able to manage their own health information, and believes tools such as this can help the NHS in the long term.

Similarly, Julie believes that a tool like Rally Round brings benefits by creating a community and allowing people to schedule their time and skills around the needs of people who are being cared for.

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Among Jenny’s favourites are those from CycleStreets,  NHS Direct and Diabetes UK. Jenny also likes the ideas put forward for mental health empowerment and repeat prescriptions.

In the short video below, Jenny talks about why she likes Rally Round, which helps carers coordinate support for individuals.

“Rally Round is a simple way of putting people in touch with others who can help. It could be something as simple as mowing the lawn, or completing a tax return.

It’s innovative, creative and expressed in simple language.”

>> Visit the Macmillan mobile website

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They include apps about interactive anatomy, electronic medical health records and radiology.

>> Read the full article and watch demonstrations of the apps

Maps and Apps has attracted a number of entries from health professionals who have created apps to help themselves and colleagues in their daily work. One of the most popular was the paediatric anaesthesia app developed by Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

>> Review all the apps and ideas submitted

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The app works on Apple products like the iPad and was developed by the Mersey Plastic Surgery Unit, led by Rowan Pritchard-Jones MD FRCS(Plast).

When junior doctors calculate fluid protocols for burn patients it requires a complex formula using different scenarios.  One of the main challenges in these cases is accurately calculating the percentage of the body surface area burned.

The app allows a doctor to input the areas of the patient that have been burnt, along with other basic details about the patient, which allows the app to make a calculation.

The significance of this app is that a declaration of conformity has been accepted by the MHRA to demonstrate that the software medical device is compliant with the essential requirements and other relevant provisions of Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC.

>> Read more about the app

>> Read the app’s entry on the MHRA register

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