Trust ditches 0844 number
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has ditched a recently introduced 0844 number following complaints that it could leave vulnerable patients out of pocket. The trust introduced the 0844 number as a single contact for Glenfield, Leicester General and the Royal Infirmary hospitals, early in September. It opted not to make revenue from the number; […]
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UK group urges rethink on drug advertising
An alliance of nine groups representing UK consumers, patients and medical professionals has urged the European Commission to ditch plans to change the rules on the information that drug companies can provide to patients. Spearheaded by consumer lobbyist Which?, the group has sent a letter to the Commission asking it to reconsider its plans to […]
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CfH clinical lead thinks future may be Lorenzo
NHS Connecting for Health’s clinical lead for hospital doctors has predicted that iSoft’s Lorenzo “could be used more” than Cerner’s Millennium in the future, as web-based technologies come to the fore. Responding to a question at this week’s Primis + conference in Nottingham, Dr Robert Pitcher confirmed that NHS organisations in the South were looking […]
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Pringle outlines future of PRIMIS +
The strategic director of PRIMIS + has said that the organisation is looking to add value to its CHART audit software, in order to enhance benefits for primary care trusts. Speaking at the annual PRIMIS + conference in Nottingham, Professor Mike Pringle acknowledged that CHART is “clunky” and said that it is “very keen” to […]
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Hospitals to assess satisfaction ‘in real time’
Health secretary Alan Johnson told the Labour Party conference yesterday that he wants to see NHS trusts collecting “immediate feedback” from patients on their experience of care. The Mirror newspaper was briefed that this might mean hospitals giving patients PDAs. However, the Department of Health could only say that trusts might “opt” to use hand-held […]
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Alston Healthcare plans telehealth project
Alston Healthcare, one of the Department of Health’s 26 social enterprise pathfinder projects, is working on a telehealth project. The Cumbrian company aims to provide community health services, including e-health services, across a rural area, with particular focus on older people. In 2006/07, it received £15,500 revenue and £5,000 capital from the Social Enterprise Unit […]
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UK Terminology Centre appoints clinical director
NHS Connecting for Health has appointed Dr James Paton as clinical director for the UK Terminology Centre. The centre, which is hosted by CfH’s Technology Office, was established in 2007 to provide a central point for managing, distributing, supporting and controlling the use of the SNOMED CT clinical terminology and related assets throughout the UK. […]
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Renal PatientView to attract more users
Thousands more kidney patients are to be encouraged to use Renal PatientView, a secure online service that gives them password-protected access to test results and information about their diagnosis and treatment. The Renal Information Exchange Group, which has a dozen members including the Department of Health, the Scottish and Welsh governments, transplant and research charities […]
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Help patients with NHS Number – NPSA
Primary care organisations that have stopped issuing medical record cards should reinstate the practice as a way of informing patients about the NHS Number. This is one of the points of a Safer Practice Notice issued by the National Patient Safety Agency, which requires all NHS organisations in England and Wales to use the NHS Number […]
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NHS Number Safer Practice Notice issued
The National Patient Safety Agency has urged all NHS organisations in England and Wales to use the NHS Number as a national, unique patient identifier to reduce errors caused by local numbering systems. The NPSA, together with NHS Connecting for Health in England and Informing Healthcare in Wales, has issued a Safer Practice Notice about […]
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