Disability Discrimination Act (1995):
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/contents
e.g. “For the purposes of this Part, a person also discriminates against a disabled person if he fails to comply with a duty to make reasonable adjustments imposed on him in relation to the disabled person.”
See part 3, section 19. “Discrimination in relation to goods, facilities an services”
Data Protection Act (1998):
www.legislation.gov.uk/UKPGA/1998/29/contents
Legislation to protect individual privacy and security of stored information
Equality Act (2010):
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
See Chapter 2, prohibited conduct, section 15, Discrimination arising from disability.
E.g. 29 Provision of services, etc.E+W+S
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)A person (a “service-provider”) concerned with the provision of a service to the public or a section of the public (for payment or not) must not discriminate against a person requiring the service by not providing the person with the service.
Gov.UK (2014) Personalised Health and Care
(2020): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personalised-health-and-care-2020
Overview of document:
Better use of data and technology has the power to improve health, transform the quality and reduce the cost of health and care services.
It can:
- give patients and citizens more control over their health and wellbeing
- empower carers
- reduce the administrative burden for care professionals
- support the development of new medicines and treatments
This framework has been developed based on evidence from many sources, including civil society and patient organisations, as well as directly from service users.
This is not a strategy in the conventional sense. It is not a national plan, but a framework for action that will support frontline staff, patients and citizens to take better advantage of the digital opportunity.
The National Information Board will report annually on progress made against the priorities detailed in this framework and review them each year to reflect changing technology and accommodate new requirements from the public and staff. The proposals in this framework are not comprehensive but they represent the core and immediate priorities for delivery of modern digital health and care services.
Health and Social Care Information Centre (2015): Information and Technology for Better Care http://tinyurl.com/jt28fr7
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) was established in April 2013 by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It is responsible for collecting, transporting, storing, analysing and disseminating the nation’s health and social care data. It is also responsible for building and delivering the technical systems that enable that data both to be used to support that individual’s care and to deliver better, more effective care for the community as a whole.
Their Vision:
By 2020, technology and data in the form of digitally enabled care will be used by most citizens and will help to meet their demand for better and safer care. We will be routinely helping health and care organisations to get the best out of their investments in technology and data.
We will have contributed to the UK becoming a world-leader in the development and use of health and social care apps. The UK will be recognised as the best place to launch innovative and improved ways of using data, information and digital technologies to deliver better, safer care.
Human Rights Act (1998):
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents
“An Act to give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights” Part 12 – Freedom of expression.
Mobile Technology Investment Toolkit (NHS Digital)
https://digital.nhs.uk/article/309/Mobile-Technology-Investment-Toolkit. A brief overview of technical practicalities to consider when setting up telehealth sessions using Skype. Includes some information on information governance.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. (2015). http://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/slt-bucks/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Summary-flier-for-parents-and-schools.pdf – Summary of an SLT project using Skype with outline of benefits to service provider and users.
NHS England (2014). Five-Year Forward View:
Legislation that promotes use of technology in health and social care.
Pg 12. – The digital and technology strategies we set out in chapter four will help, and within five years, all citizens will be able to access their medical and care records (including in social care contexts) and share them with carers or others they choose.
Pg 32 – Technology – including smartphones – can be a great leveller and, contrary to some perceptions, many older people use the internet. However, we will take steps to ensure that we build the capacity of all citizens to access information, and train our staff so that they are able to support those who are unable or unwilling to use new technologies.
Pg 33 – A smaller proportion of new devices and equipment go through NICE’s assessment process than do pharmaceuticals. We will work with NICE to expand work on devices and equipment and to support the best approach to rolling out high value innovations—for example, operational pilots to generate evidence on the real world financial and operational impact on services—while decommissioning outmoded legacy technologies and treatments to help pay for them.
Pg 34. – The NHS will become one of the best places in the world to test innovations that require staff, technology and funding all to align in a health system, with universal coverage serving a large and diverse population.
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Communicating Quality Live:
www.rcslt.org/cq_live/introduction – Wealth of resources. Includes this example:
Long-term sustainability of the NHS – 2016
5. Supporting the delivery of new models of care
5.2 In many parts of the country SLTs are already employing innovative approaches to deliver enhanced patient care. For example, SLTs in Blackpool have used teleswallowing technology to conduct remote speech and language therapy assessments of older people in care homes.4 The use of this new way of working has helped to reduce travel costs and increase staff capacity so that their time is ‘freed up’ and can be used to treat more patients.
UN Convention of Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities: www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007
The Convention is intended as a human rights instrument with an explicit, social development dimension. It adopts a broad categorization of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced.