Don’t pay for additional N3 bandwidth, PCTs told
Primary care trusts (PCTs) have been told that current N3 broadband links provide enough bandwidth to run all Connecting for Health applications and that no local top ups should be necessary in most cases. The newly-published guidance, which sets out the requirements for IT infrastructure now and in the future, makes it clear that in […]
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GP Systems of Choice procurement on track but late
The GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) scheme looks likely to go ahead – although procurement will not be complete by 1 April as originally planned. A spokesperson for CfH told EHI Primary Care that the GPSoC business case was approved by the Department of Health in December 2006. Approval from the Treasury is still outstanding but […]
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Liquidlogic deploys children’s system at Cumbria
Health and social care software specialists Liquidlogic have announced that their ‘Protocol’ integrated children’s system has been successfully deployed by Cumbria County Council. The council had previously been working on a paper-based system which was outdated and did not comply with the Department for Education and Skills’ (DfES) Every Child Matters agenda, which says local […]
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SNOMED negotiations miss deadline – but continue
Talks to negotiate a new International Standards Development Organisation (SDO) for the clinical terminology, SNOMED CT, missed their first deadline at the end of December but are continuing, it has emerged. SNOMED International issued a statement saying that it is continuing to work closely with representatives from nine countries on the creation of the SDO […]
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‘Nurse bots’ to be developed by 2010
The European Union is funding scientists to develop ‘nurse bots’, mechanised robots designed to perform basic tasks such as mopping up spillages, taking messages and guiding visitors to hospital beds. It is hoped that in the future teams of bots working together may be used to help ease pressure on hospitals and free staff to spend […]
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BMJ says it will have to charge for BestTreatments
The BMJ Group says the Department of Health’s withdrawl of funding from its award-winning website BestTreatments means it will now probably have to charge patients for access for the service. The website has been available through NHS Direct online since 2004 and provides information on more than 1500 treatments. The BMJ say it was developed to help communication […]
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Council counts savings of telecare for elderly
An audit by Gloucestershire County Council looking at the amount of savings available to them by implementing telecare found that it could save £15,000 on the treatment of just three elderly patients. The council began a pilot project of ‘Telecare in Gloucestershire’ (TeleG) in the Gloucester and Forest of Dean regions in 2004 and set […]
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Siemens take over leading German systems provider
Siemens Medical Solutions have acquired the German health information systems developers Gesellschaft für Systemforschung und Dienstleistungen im Gesundheitswesen mbH (GSD). GSD currently provide their i.s.h.med system to 260 hospitals worldwide, which they describe as “the only integrated clinical work station system for SAP for Healthcare” and have had a long-standing partnership with Siemens in ensuring […]
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NPfIT Service Desk now running in all clusters
Fujitsu have implemented the new NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) service desk in all of the National Programme for IT clusters. The service desk will provide a helpline, e-mail and web logging facility for technical questions and queries about National Programme for IT systems and services. Operated by Fujitsu Services Limited, the NHS CfH […]
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Foul weather friends on hand for COPD patients
NHS Direct, the Met Office and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust are collaborating on a new project to help thousands of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in times of bad weather. COPD is one of the most common respiratory diseases in the UK causing 30,000 deaths a year. In bad weather, […]
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