Hobbies

Classical Music

I have a passionate interest in classical music, especially of the baroque period and the late 19th. and 20th. century. I am particularly interested in the revival of British music from Sullivan, Parry and Stanford to Elgar, Delius, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Walton, Tippett, Britten and beyond. In addition, I am dismayed at the lack of recognition of the British symphonists of the 20th. century such as Bax, Bantock, Brian, Moeran, Rubbra and Lloyd. I read in the Gramophone recently that Simon Rattle had conducted Mahler's 10th. symphony nearly 100 times ... yet he has never (to my knowledge) conducted any symphonies by Bax, Vaughan Williams, Moeran (et al.). What a pity!

I have written and had published numerous letters on the subject in the national newspapers (such as the 'Times'), the BBC Music Magazine and 'Gramophone'. I was also interviewed by Gordon Clough on the World this Weekend in August 1985. The latter followed a number of articles in the 'Times', the 'Observer' and the 'Listener' about the lack of British music in the promenade concerts. This led to the phrase 'prom bashing'. In my interview with Gordon Clough I mentioned that three large scale British choral masterpieces had not been performed at the proms for many years. They were The Dream of Gerontius (Elgar), War Requiem (Britten) and Mass of Life (Delius). At the end of the interview we heard a snatch of a rather scratchy recording of Gerontius! Neverthless, some success was achieved as all three works were performed within the next few years. Coincidence, maybe?

• Elgar this is an excellent site for details about the composer, especially oncoming performances of his music
• Delius not as comprehensive as the above site but is a good effort
• BBC Radio 3
• British Music Society this is a small site but a very important one. The BMS makes great efforts to support all those neglected British composers who have been woefully neglected by concert promoters, the BBC and the like. They have sponsored a number of CDs and cassettes, details of which are available on the web site.
• The English Music Festival This site gives up to date information on the English Music Festival which was founded in 2002 by my ex-partner, Em Marshall and myself. The fifth festival took place in May 2011, in and around Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The annual festival which is held around the 2nd bank holiday in May is an unmissable event for all lovers of English (British) music and has had rave reviews and full houses! If you don't believe me ... follow the link!

If you're interested in buying CDs by mail order, MDT is a great place to start!

The role of telemedicine in helathcare in the 21st century

The aim of healthcare technology management is to increase it's immediate and long term effectiveness by improving performance in terms of time, cost, function and quality. The objective is to produce a healthier population. Telemedicine is perceived by the NHS Executive (NHSE) as a key technology in provision of healthcare practice and education in the new millennium. However, key recent reviews such as Wootton (1998) and the Economist (1998) as well as reports commissioned by the Department of Health (DOH) have suggested little impact on healthcare practice, patchy and uncoordinated adoption with little prospect for this situation to change in the near future. Lack of use of telemedicine in day to day healthcare practice and education underlines the disparity between the policies espoused by the NHSE and actual practice on the ground .

I undertook a project for my MBA in Technology Management which aimed, firstly, to analyse the evidence base in favour of Telemedicine. Did it justify the prominence given to it in the NHSE's strategy? Secondly, if there was good evidence to support it, what might be the key technology management issues which have impeded its successful adoption into healthcare practice in the UK? The objective of the research was to make available to organisations such as the NHS Executive, NHS Trusts and UK medical schools, a report which enabled a fuller understanding of the opportunities and issues surrounding successful adoption of Telemedicine which need to be addressed, in the context of the new agenda for the NHS. This fuller understanding should enable a clearer technology management strategy to emerge which enables Telemedicine to takes its rightful place in UK healthcare practice and education. A shortened version of the project is available under Telemedicine project.

If you're interested in Telemedicine too, email me at david@dr-green.co.uk