NHS ramps up spend on management consultants
Spending on management consultants across the public sector has reached a record a record £3bn a year, with an increase of over a third in the past two years, according to new figures released by the National Audit Office. The increase in spending over the past two years is largely driven by the increased use […]
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Survey shows US appetite for personal electronic records
A US survey has revealed strong support for the concept of personal electronic health records, with those polled seeing them as a way to improve quality and reduce healthcare costs. However, the report also showed that the Americans surveyed have serious concerns over the privacy and confidentiality of their medical records and rely on the […]
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Telecare deal for 500 packages in Cumbria
Five hundred homes across Cumbria are to receive telecare packages following a contract award to suppliers, Tunstall, by the local county council. The move follows a successful pilot scheme earlier this year and will be funded using some of the £860,000 Preventative Technology Grant (PTG), allocated to the council by the Department of Health. Cumbria County […]
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Hounslow installs IP network for new health centre
Hounslow PCT has installed a new ntl:Telewest Business’ IP multimedia network in their new primary care centre to support more efficient working and better collaboration between staff. The new primary care centre, due to open in February 2007, will open with a new Internet Protocol (IP) network supporting the delivering of integrated voice, data and […]
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Minister responsible for NPfIT to retire
Lord Warner the health minister responsible for the £12.4bn NHS IT project is to retire at the end of the year. No 10 has announced that the Labour peer will retire at the end of the year, in what was described as a "personal decision". The BBC reported that Downing Street had denied that his departure […]
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Heart of England invests in digital retinopathy
Information management and storage specialists, EMC Corporation, have implemented two EMC Centera content storage systems at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust to b e able to more effectively store and provide rapid access digital diabetic retinopathy images. One hundred Birmingham and Black Country community-based optometrists will be participating in a regional diabetic retinopathy […]
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GPASS accidentally prescribes Viagra to smokers
A glitch with the Scottish GP system GPASS could have resulted in smokers trying to quit the habit being mistakenly prescribed anti-impotence drug Viagra by doctors. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said the error was due to a computer glitch at two city GP practices, according to a report by BBC Scotland. The Health […]
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Fujitsu hits 100m PACS images
Fujitsu Services, the NHS’s IT prime contractor for the South of England, has today recorded the 100 millionth patient image stored in its data centre as part of the Connecting for Health, picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) programme. Two million images a week are being added to Fujitsu’s PACS data centre, with the programme […]
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Bridgeforward and Quicksilva partner on integration
Software providers BridgeForward and Quicksilva have announced a partnership to focus on integrated connectivity solutions for healthcare. BridgeForward Software, a specialist in application integration and data migration software in healthcare will partner with Quicksilva Software Solutions, which supplies spine connectivity solutions and services to the healthcare industry, will partner on integration solutions. Under the partnership, each […]
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Wearable patient monitor transmits over WiFi
A new wireless monitor which is worn by the patient has been developed by German medical equipment manufacturers Dräger Medical. The Infinity TeleSmart system (below) has similar functionality to a full-sized monitor but still can be worn on the patient’s body. Like a normal telemetry device, it is attached to the patient’s skin with plasters and collects data such […]
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