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Health News
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February 22, 2012 |  |
The Northern Ireland Minister for Health, Edwin Poots, MLA, today announced funding of almost 1 million pounds, to be utilised by Randox and the University of Ulster Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, to develop a test to rapidly determine which patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis will respond to particular drugs. If successful, this will be a marked advance for arthritis patients, enabling those patients to receive specifically tailored treatment.
Fifty percent of this funding has been awarded, after rigorous scrutiny, through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB; www. |
February 22, 2012 |  |
 Clinical Translational Research and Innovation Centre (C-TRIC), a clinical evaluation centre and healthcare innovation hub based at one of Northern Ireland’s largest acute hospital sites, is assisting Nova Biomedical, in the research and development of state of the art monitoring technologies for diabetes and liver dysfunction.
Nova Biomedical, headquartered in Waltham Massachussetts, is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of state-of-the-art medical devices, diagnostic equipment and specifically in vitro diagnostics. Nova Biomedical is widely known as the world leader in whole blood critical care technology to hospitals. |
Health Minister Edwin Poots took a step forward in helping patients access high-technology healthcare in their homes
Mr Poots was in Finland for the Northern Ireland and Massachusetts Connection (NIMAC) conference on Connected Health. This is a unique opportunity which could help Northern Ireland bring state-of-the-art healthcare technology to those that need it while at the same time promoting the business openings which come with it.
During his visit to Helsinki, Mr Poots took part in a high level meeting hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Helsinki. |
 CIS Oncology in Belfast is being assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to pinpoint opportunities in South Africa for its sophisticated software for cancer treatment.
The company, part of the CIS Healthcare operation, is following up its participation in the Invest NI’s ‘Going South Africa’ initiative which culminated in a trade mission to South Africa in December, by returning to the market this month.
During this follow-up visit the company has a series of meetings with potential clients interested in its unique ChemoCare software, an electronic prescribing system and management technology for cancer patients. |
 CIGA Healthcare in Ballymena has won its biggest single export deal following an Invest Northern Ireland trade mission to Saudi Arabia in October.
The company is to supply its full range of self-diagnostic products to AM Batterjee, a leading Saudi business located in Jeddah, for a network of pharmacies around the country. The contract is CIGA Healthcare’s first significant business in Saudi Arabia. |
 Warrenpoint-based Squeeze Juice Cafe has been assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to develop a new wheatgrass juice for a healthier lifestyle.
Squeeze Juice Cafe has used an Invest NI Innovation Voucher to develop the fresh juice from wheatgrass it is now growing in Warrenpoint using hydroponic technology. The fresh juice, provided in handy sachets, has recently gone on sale through the company’s internet site and is proving popular with consumers of all ages.
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 Ten 3rd year medical students have taken part in new Student Selected Component (SSC), “Follow the Leader”, where they shadow a local healthcare leader for two weeks.
With the help of the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, the NI Ombudsman, Dr Tom Frawley, Chief Executives of three of the health & social care Trusts: Colm Donaghy (Belfast), Hugh McCaughey (Southeastern Trust) and Liam McIvor (NI Ambulance Service), Medical Director and Assistant Director Drs Tony Stevens and Cathy Jack (Belfast Trust), leaders from the Public Health Agency, Dr Carolyn Harper and Mrs Mary Hinds, Director of Care Services Age NI, Linda Robinson, and Dr Angela Carragher from the Northern Ireland Medical & Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA)---undergraduate medical students fro QUB have gotten first hand experience and exposure to the daily life of leaders in healthcare and policy making in Northern Ireland.
The module and placement developed and designed to enable students to experience and be inspired by local health & social care leadership, will ideally develop an understanding of their leader’s personal styles, abilities and role and help them to gain a better understanding of how effective leadership impacts the health & social care system and the patients it serves. |
 Almac's Diagnostics business unit today announced the launch of its advanced Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data Analysis services.
These latest enhancements to Almac's service portfolio include a comprehensive range of NGS solutions from professional study design to sample processing and expert data analysis for DNA and RNA samples. Uniquely, the services are highly customizable and are available on a standalone basis or in combination with Almac's established bioinformatics offerings in the areas of biological analysis, biomarker and drug discovery and development and diagnostic product development. |
A survey conducted by the University of Ulster has listed research needs that would enable Allied Health Professionals (AHP) such as physiotherapists, occupational and speech and language therapists to improve the experience of people they care for.
The results were unveiled at a joint Public Health Agency (PHA) and University of Ulster workshop entitled “Shaping the Future” which highlighted the essential role of evidence-based research in effective health and social care practice.
The survey, in which Ulster researchers worked closely with leading AHPs, key stakeholders and service users throughout Northern Ireland, was funded by the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency. |
 A new three year research project aimed at improving the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment for men affected by prostate cancer is taking place at Queen’s.
With new and improved treatments needed for men with advanced prostate cancer, it is hoped the project will identify a new approach using radiotherapy, a commonly used treatment, to treat the disease more effectively.
Funded by a £99,273 PhD research grant awarded by The Prostate Cancer Charity, the project will first seek to understand how a man’s prostate cancer becomes resistant to radiotherapy. |
 The latest technology and healthcare are working hand in hand to help thousands of people in Northern Ireland with long term chronic conditions take more control of managing their health in their own homes.
Remote telemonitoring combines technology and services that enable patients with chronic diseases to test their vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure, body weight, temperature, blood glucose and oxygen levels at home on a daily basis. The service is now being rolled out to 3,500 patients across Northern Ireland per annum for a period of six years. |
 University of Ulster scientists involved in dementia research have discovered that drugs which mimic some of the actions of insulin may encourage the growth of new brain cells.
They hope their work, which has been funded by Alzheimer's Research UK, the UK's leading dementia research charity, might pave the way for the design of new treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
Professor Christian Hölscher, of the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute at the Coleraine campus, who co-authored the study which made the discovery, said: "Finding ways to protect brain cells and keep them communicating could be an important step forward for fighting Alzheimer's. |
Health Minister Edwin Poots today marked the roll-out of a ground-breaking hi-tech scheme which will enable more patients to monitor their health in their own homes.
Following funding of £18m from the Department of Health, the newly named Centre for Connected Health and Social Care (CCHSC), part of the Public Health Agency (PHA) worked in partnership with business consortium TF3to establish the innovative Telemonitoring NI service. The service is now being delivered by the TF3 consortium in partnership with the Health and Social Care Trusts. |
In yet another major win for its healthcare business, Belfast-based technology solutions company Kainos has announced that Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has committed to a transformational clinical information management project based around its next-generation electronic medical record (EMR) solution, Evolve® 3.
This latest release of Kainos’s already well-established patient records solution is a comprehensive EMR platform, developed in conjunction with NHS clinicians and managers. Building on the existing functionality of previous versions, Evolve 3 provides advanced process management, a suite of care quality workflows, reporting, patient status management and mobile data access, enabling Trusts to accelerate the delivery of critical healthcare processes and deliver step changes in efficiency and patient care. |
November 29, 2011 |  |
NHS Foundation Trust will exploit the advanced capabilities of Kainos’s next-generation Evolve 3 EMR platform to eliminate paper and make timely information available to clinicians at the point of need
In yet another major win for its Healthcare business, technology solutions company Kainos has announced that Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has committed to a transformational clinical information management project based around its next-generation electronic medical record (EMR) solution, Evolve® 3.
This latest release of Kainos’s already well-established patient records solution is a comprehensive EMR platform, developed in conjunction with NHS clinicians and managers. Building on the existing functionality of previous versions, Evolve 3 provides advanced process management, a suite of care quality workflows, reporting, patient status management and mobile data access, enabling Trusts to accelerate the delivery of critical healthcare processes and deliver step changes in efficiency and patient care. |
Scientists at Queen’s University are embarking on a promising study that could improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, thanks to a £30,000 grant from Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity. It’s hoped the study could also uncover new clues about the causes of the disease.
For Dr Stewart Graham, who will lead the study in the Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use (IAFLU), the research also has personal meaning, as his grandmother died after a ten-year struggle with Alzheimer’s. |
November 14, 2011 |  |
 Northgate Managed Services has been nationally recognised as the IT Supplier of the Year at the British Computer Society (BCS)& Computing UK Industry Awards 2011.
Newtownabbey based Northgate Managed Services has cemented its reputation as one of the UK’s leading providers of ICT services by being named ‘IT Supplier of the Year’ at the British Computer Society (BCS) and Computing UK Industry Awards 2011.
The award recognises Northgate Managed Services' dynamic growth and its strong financial performance which saw the company return a 21% increase in its revenue, successfully win more than 80 news clients in a range of sectors; invest significantly in staff training and development, strengthen industry partnerships, and create more than 100 new jobs across its UK operation. |
October 07, 2011 |  |
HSC Innovations has announced that Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has licensed its novel rapid meningitis diagnostic test to HiberGene Diagnostics Ltd, a start-up client company of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, Dublin, Ireland. The licence grants HiberGene exclusive rights to commercialise the product worldwide.
Diagnosis of meningitis is notoriously difficult, with ambiguous flu-like symptoms initially, which make early diagnosis very challenging. |
sQuid, the electronic payments provider today announced the launch of online top ups and cashless catering at St Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon, Northern Ireland.
sQuid now enables school parents to top up their child’s school cashless catering account online so that children can pay for food and drink in the school canteen, without the need to take cash or cheques to school.
Mary Thompson, Facilities Manager at St Patrick’s said, “We are delighted with the integration of our cashless system with sQuid’s ePayment technology. |
 There is a genuine lack of understanding of the nature of innovation in public services, according to a senior University of Ulster academic.
Dr Gordon Marnoch, who is a Reader in Public Policy at Ulster’s School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy, warned against ‘change for the sake of change’ and said change does not necessarily lead to improved public services.
“Politicians seem to have this need to be associated with new ideas and because of this, public services managers, are under pressure to demonstrate that they can be innovative. |
September 16, 2011 |  |
 Aurion Learning was celebrating today at the news that NetDimensions learning management solutions have been named as a finalist in two categories at the annual Best of Elearning! 2011 Awards:
- Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP) for Best Learning Management System
- Mobile EKP (mEKP) for Best Mobile Learning Solution.
Aurion Learning is a certified reseller for NetDimensions award-wining learning & talent management products in Ireland and the United Kingdom. |
During visits to Dimplex Renewables Seagoe Technologies Ltd and Kingspan Renewables at their Portadown factories Minister McCausland saw a number of products designed to use renewable energy in commercial and domestic settings. These products included heat pumps and solar panels to heat water or generate electricity.
The Minister said; “As Minister with responsibility for housing, I am aware of the importance of reducing energy bills for householders to help combat fuel poverty. |
 The Health and Enterprise Ministers have visited Connected Health Ltd in Lisnaskea to see how using technology can enhance patient care.
During the visit, Edwin Poots and Arlene Foster met with local entrepreneurs who have established Connected Health Ltd, a company providing domiciliary care, and toured the facilities. The Ministers then met to discuss how their Departments' agendas of enhancing patient care and improving the economy can overlap and be mutually beneficial in this area. |
 16th August 2011
Bibby Line Group short listed for Private Business of the Year in the 3i Orange National Business Awards.
Bibby Line Group, the services group widely known for its ship owning operation, has for the second time this year been nominated as a finalist in a prestigious National Business Awards programme: the 3i Orange Awards in the Private Business of the Year category.
Bibby Financial Services, the leading independent invoice finance provider with offices based in Belfast and Dublin is supported by the Bibby Line Group in the operation of its financial services across the island. |
August 09, 2011 |  |
 ONE of Belfast’s global companies was named yesterday as one of the UK’s most innovative businesses in the country. HeartSine Technologies, based near George Best Belfast City Airport, has been shortlisted for the coveted Orange Innovation Award, in the 10th annual National Business Awards.
The firm has been shortlisted because of its innovative approach to the design, development and manufacture of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). |
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