On behalf of the Public Health Institute for Scotland I am organising a one day conference, to be held on Thursday October 25th 2001 at Caledonian University in Glasgow. The target audience is mainly those living and working in Scotland so please excuse my use of this international list to reach my audience.

For developers & evaluators of computerised info for direct use by patients & public

Improved access to information for patients is a priority of the NHS.

Research and development in the use of information and communication technologies could radically change the way health services are delivered, with computer-based consultations at home or in public locations helping to reduce travel to health centres and hospitals and providing support at a more appropriate time and place. However, developments in Scotland have not yet been, fully exploited in an integrated way to the benefit of patients and the public.

The aim of the conference is to bring together all those in Scotland from NHS, universities, local government, patient groups, industry, and the media who have an interest in patient and public health information. The medium term aim is to:

• encourage technology transfer and the synergy of different developments
• develop cross-sectoral links and a better process of implementation; and
• audit of research findings to benefit the public, patients and the health service,
• engage academics in computing science and related disciplines, local government, industry and the media to address public health information needs in their work

The short-term aim of the conference is that you will have a chance to learn what is going on in other centres in Scotland and to go away with a list of at least ten people that you might want to contact for future collaboration.

The target number for delegates is 150. The format is to be flexible and I am open to any proposals for presentations, demonstrations, posters, or discussions. The aim is to set up an accompanying website, indexing all those working in patient and public information, with links to their work.

The conference proceedings will be published on the website. In preparing for the conference the aim is also to produce a VHS video describing current patient education and information systems with the main target audience being clinicians and managers in the NHS.

They include the following:

Clinicians interested in the provision of information to their patients NHS managers wanting to improve provision of information Managers from software, hardware, and knowledge products seeking new markets Computer scientists looking for application areas for new techniques Organisers of patient groups wanting improved care for their client group Local government professionals from public libraries and other information provision Workers in the TV and the press concerned with health information Public health specialists concerned with equity of information provision Those working in evidence based information for patients GPs concerned about how to give patients access to their records

If you think you may be able to contribute please get in touch by email to Dr Ray Jones on r.b.jones@udcf.gla.ac.uk  to discuss this further.

Dr Ray Jones
Senior Lecturer in Health Informatics
Department of Public Health
1 Lilybank Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RZ

Email: r.b.jones@udcf.gla.ac.uk
Fax: 0141-330-5018

Secretary
Rebecca Flanagan
Email: R.Flanagan@udcf.gla.ac.uk
Tel: 0141-330-6110