Privacy GP calls records opt out pledge a ‘decoy’
A GP who has campaigned for patients to secure an opt-out from the NHS Care Records Service (NCRS) is claiming that current plans will still put confidential patient information at risk. Dr Paul Thornton has written a 12 page report which claims the government’s pledge of an opt out right from the Summary Care Record […]
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NPfIT’s Evolution maternity dropped by Royal Shrewsbury
The NHS trust that was meant to be the pilot site for the National Programme for IT version of iSoft’s Evolution Maternity Information System, has given up waiting for its delayed NPfIT system and implemented an alternative system bought off the shelf. Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust, Shropshire has been waiting for almost two years […]
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DH acknowledge junior doctor selection ‘shortcomings’
An extremely rapid DH initial review into the heavily criticised online junior doctor recruitment system has within 24-hours admitted that there were ‘shortcomings’ that need to be addressed. Following threats of boycotting the system from consultants, the review team which was set up on Friday announced on Saturday a series of changes to the system […]
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BMA sits on critical Choose and Book survey results
The British Medical Association has decided not to publish its own survey of Choose and Book which is highly critical of the e-booking system. A copy of the survey has, however, been obtained by EHI Primary Care. At the beginning of February BMA chairman Mr James Johnson promised the survey would be published “shortly” but […]
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Tories back more collaborative approach on IT
Shadow chancellor, George Osborne, has said that the government needs to start taking advantage of the ‘collaborative forums that are emerging on the internet’, citing the Patient Opinion website as an example. “The Patient Opinion website, a social enterprise set up by a Sheffield GP, is already demonstrating what can be achieved,” Osborne told a […]
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Consumers prefer the ‘personal touch’ for online health
Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council has found that people searching for health advice online prefer websites with the ‘human touch’ to websites with high quality medical information. Researchers from Northumbria and Sheffield universities observed the strategies of people interested in finding health information and found that consumers went through an ‘initial […]
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Mental health charity launch e-mail support
SANE, the mental health charity has launched a new email support service to provide support and information to people affected by mental health problems, and is fully funded by The Vodafone UK Foundation charity. SANEmail aims to provide support and information to people affected by mental health problems and will run alongside SANEline, SANE’s national, […]
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DH orders review into junior doctor recruitment system
The Department of Health has announced it has ordered a review into the Medical Training and Application Service (MTAS) following claims that the system is ‘descending into pandemonium’ by the British Medical Association. As E-Health Insider reported on Friday, the new MTAS website was created by the Department for Health under the new ‘Modernising Medical […]
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Suspended Fujitsu exec tells MPs NPfIT needs leadership
The senior manager at Fujitsu who said the National Programme for IT was in danger of delivering “a camel, and not the racehorse that we might try to produce”, has told a parliamentary committee that this can only be solved with more ‘visionary and proactive leadership from the NHS.’ Andrew Rollerson, who was credited as […]
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Islington PCT uses texts for stop smoking campaign
GP surgeries in Islington, London, are using SMS text messaging software from suppliers iPlato to promote its smoking cessation campaigns. Islington practices using the iPlato text messaging system have reported patient response rates of 30%, compared to a response rate of 5% when they used letters. The practices using the system have sent text messages […]
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