King’s Fund calls for ‘virtual polyclinics’
A leading health think-tank has recommended that the Department of Health should pilot ‘virtual polyclinics’ in a major report on the government’s plans to set up polyclinics and GP-led health centres across England. The King’s Fund report, Under One Roof: will polyclinics deliver integrated care? argues that it many cases it will not be necessary […]
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Fujitsu’s exit may hasten systems choice
Long term system choice for GPs could have moved a step nearer with the departure of local service provider (LSP) Fujitsu, according to primary care IT representatives. Last week Connecting for Heath terminated Fujitsu’s £896m contract as LSP for the South, leaving question marks over who might take over and how it will affect development […]
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Largest ever UK telecare trial starts
The start of the UK’s largest ever trial of telecare and telehealth in a £31m programme covering 6000 people has been announced by the Department of Health. Health secretary Alan Johnson said the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) Programme had begun this week in Kent, Newham and Cornwall, testing the potential of technologies like telecare and […]
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Reflection needed on SCR report says director
The clinical director for the Summary Care Record has called for a period of reflection in the wake of the publication of the independent evaluation of the SCR. Dr Gillian Braunold, clinical director for the SCR and HealthSpace, said that while the SCR team was keen “to try and get on with this” it was […]
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Evaluating SCR options
A busy summer lies ahead as the implications of the evaluation of the Summary Care Record are considered, Fiona Barr reports.
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DH publishes self-care guidance
Health and social care staff need to help patients use technology to manage their own conditions according to new guidance on supporting self-care published by the Department of Health. Health minister Ivan Lewis announced the introduction of seven Common Core Principles to Support Self Care which the DH says will help health and social care […]
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One in ten EPS pharmacies scanning all barcodes
Only 11% of pharmacies enabled for the Electronic Prescription Service are scanning every barcode prescription with problems including slow download speeds, the barcodes themselves being too faint to scan and slow log-in times, according to a survey. A total of 365 pharmacies took part in a survey, carried out jointly by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating […]
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Over 10 NHS security breaches in last 6 months
The NHS has reported more than ten data security breaches to the Information Commissioner in the six months since the lost of 25m child benefit records. The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has revealed that his office has been notified of almost 100 data breaches by public, private and third sector organisations since the security breach […]
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Evaluation to recommend cautious SCR roll-out
The pace of implementation of the Summary Care Record (SCR) looks likely to be slower than originally planned after it has emerged that only two PCTs have so far got records available to view over the Spine. The first evaluation of the SCR, due to be published next month, is also expected to recommend a […]
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Revised telecare framework promises £4.1m savings
The telecare national framework agreement has been updated and should offer potential extra savings of £4.1m according to the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA). NHS PASA has completed its second annual review of the telecare National Framework Agreement (NFA) following the launch in June 2006. The newly updated framework introduces 145 new product lines, […]
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