Stephen Armstrong

What happens to data gathered by health and wellness apps

With mobile health apps and wearables becoming ubiquitous, the data they gather are being sold for commercial profit, Stephen Armstrong reports

Which app should I use

Patients and doctors are making increasing use of health apps, but there is little guidance about how well they work. Stephen Armstrong reports

The apps attempting to transfer NHS 111 online

Four regional pilots are spearheading NHS England’s plans to move 30% of callers to apps and websites—are they effective and safe, asks Stephen Armstrong

Social networking for patients

Is social media saving lives? Or is it spreading poor information and damaging private confidentiality? The rapid rise of patient support groups on social media is putting some fundamental ethical questions into the spotlight. Stephen Armstrong reports

Finally, the NHS goes digital. Or does it?

The NHS is 20 years behind the private sector in its use of technology, and a long way behind many of its doctors and patients. Now there are plans for a dramatic catch up. But will it work? Stephen Armstrong reports

Data, data everywhere: the challenges of personalised medicine

Can public trust in health record sharing be regained? Will clinicians end up frazzled data scientists? Stephen Armstrong examines healthcare’s wrestling match with big data

Patient access to health records: striving for the Swedish ideal

All patients in Sweden will shortly have access to their full medical records. Stephen Armstrong reports on the the country’s 20 year struggle to achieve this and what the UK can learn

Data deadlines loom large for the NHS

A trio of government commitments on patient records, data protection, and control over sharing are on the horizon. Will they be met—and what might they mean for clinicians? asks Stephen Armstrong

Games for doctors

Stephen Armstrong looks at how the computer games industry is turning its attention to helping doctors improve their performance

Alder Hey’s “cognitive hospital” aims to turn NHS use of AI on its head

The pioneering children’s health service believes artificial intelligence can be put to better use in health, and is developing its site as a “living organism,” reports Stephen Armstrong