E-health research centres: a health care move forward

Last week it was reported that the drug testing facilities for the London 2012 Olympics will be turned into a permanent research centre - so when all the international athletes have packed up their kit and flown off home to all four corners of the globe, the legacy of London 2012 will partly be to the benefit of UK health care generally. The HM Government website's news room has this information on the purpose of the e-health centre initiative:


"The new centres will enable the UK to make more effective use of electronic health data – a field with huge possibilities for health care delivery and the understanding of disease"


The other planned e-health centres along with the London one (greater London, actually: it's based at Harlow) are to be established in Dundee, Manchester, and Swansea. Described by the Prime Minister as "an impressive example of collaboration between top-class research, the NHS and industry" the ehealth centres will use electronically stored health data to find new insights into disease and thus help with health care delivery.


This is all good news and potentially cutting edge UK research - we'll revisit this story in time when the e-health centres' work is underway and hopefully bringing some interesting results. Until then, though, the Olympics continue and the UK summer - despite a bit of rain here and there - welcomes millions of tourists to London to watch the games and also check out the history and culture available in the capital.