(June 4th 2019): Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) and Technology University Dublin, with the support of Amazon Web Services have announced that they will hold a ‘Health Hackathon’ later this week to improve medical services.
The two day event will bring together student computer scientists, IT industry experts and healthcare professionals with the aim of creating software or services that could assist in community healthcare.
Among the areas to be covered by the health hackathon are a tracking device for patients in clinical areas, a digital reminder for when medications should be taken, and visual displays for inpatient rooms and ward areas.
David Wall, Director of ICT at TUH said: “We are really looking forward to the Health Hackathon with TU Dublin and Amazon Web Services. This collaboration will hopefully result in innovative ways for solutions for patients and their healthcare. For example one challenge will be to come up with a solution for patients with memory issues who require medication. For this category of patients taking the wrong dose or taking it at the wrong times can have significant impacts on their health.”
Brendan Cannon, EMEA Community Engagement Manager at Amazon Web Services said: “We are delighted to support TU Dublin and TUH as technology advisors for this hackathon. By putting cloud technology in the hands of these students, we can empower them to innovate and create new solutions using the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning This is a positive opportunity for communities in Tallaght to work together in support of technology, education and health and make real and tangible changes to healthcare and people’s lives.”
Barry Feeney, Head of Computing, TU Dublin said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to use their skills in a really practical way and be at the forefront of providing digital solutions for healthcare today. They can possibly be at the forefront of leading real innovative change by practically developing something from all the skills they have acquired.”
The Health Hackathon will take place on June 7th and 8th in the Synergy Building on the TU Dublin Tallaght Campus. Student computer scientists will be set a number of challenges which have been set by clinicians in TUH that present daily challenges to them as clinicians in the care of their patients.
About Tallaght University Hospital
TUH is one of Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospitals, adult, psychiatric and age-related healthcare on one site. The Hospital has 495 adult beds with 3,000 people on staff. The Hospital is a provider of local, regional and national specialties. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre. The Hospital also has 67 paediatric beds under the governance of Children’s Health Ireland and 52 mental health beds under HSE governance.
TUH is one of the two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others. TUH is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which serves a population of over 1.2 million across seven counties.
A new paediatric outpatient and urgent care centre is to be built at TUH as part of the Children’s Health Ireland project as a key element of an integrated clinical network for paediatric services nationally. The Hospital’s Emergency Departments catered for 51,084 Adult Attendance and 32,424 Paediatric Attendance in 2018. A further 267,623 patients were treated through the Hospital’s Adult and Paediatric outpatient clinics in 2018. The Hospital’s operations are supported by 200 general practitioners in surrounding communities and aligned with Community Health Organisation 7.
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