DH survey reveals choice recall of just 30%
Only 30% of patients can recall being offered a choice of hospital for their outpatient appointments, according to figures from the National Patient Choice Survey, commissioned by the Department of Health. Around 79,000 patients were questioned by Ipsos MORI to monitor their awareness of choice and to see if they could recall the choices of […]
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1000 Vision practices using Choose and Book
Primary Care IT specialists INPS are celebrating reaching 1000 GP practices using their Vision clinical system connected to Choose and Book to refer patients for specialist care. The INPS Vision system is used by 20 percent of English GP practices and includes software allowing GPs to use Choose and Book on the system, as opposed […]
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‘Googling’ aids difficult diagnoses
Doctors puzzling over a difficult diagnosis might do well to try “googling” their patients’ symptoms, according to research published by the British Medical Journal. The researchers, from Australia, reached their conclusion after “googling for a diagnosis” using the Google search engine on 26 cases records published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005. […]
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New GPS telecare bracelet to go on sale
Canadian mobile technology specialists Medical Intelligence Technologies Inc. has signed a letter of intent with British telecare specialists Tunstall for UK distribution of its GPS-enabled Columba telecare bracelet. The Columba (right) is a watch size bracelet combining a hands-free portable telephone, an intelligent alert system and a global positioning system (GPS). When necessary, it transmits the […]
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Human change the ‘greatest challenge’ for NHS IT
Achieving changes in human processes to accommodate the IT revolution is perhaps the greatest challenge to the successful implementation of improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare, senior NHS figures say in an article published this week. Otherwise, manual processes will simply be replaced with digital ones, they warn. In a commentary article in the Journal of the […]
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RIO becomes strategic solution for London
CSE-Servelec has announced to financial markets that it has completed contract negotiations with BT to provide its RiO system to NHS community, mental health trusts and child health trusts in London. BT is the prime contractor, or local service provider, responsible for upgrading health service IT systems in the capital as part of the £6.2bn […]
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NPSA issues spec for electronic blood tracking
The National Patient Safety Agency has unveiled new measures to help improve the safety of blood transfusions, including the initial specification for an electronic tracking system to ensure the right patient is matched with the right blood product. The NPSA has worked with Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) and the Chief Medical Officer’s National Blood […]
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Immunisation records ‘too poor to migrate’
Staff trying to migrate existing child immunisation records to new systems in London face a “complete mess”, according to a newspaper report. The Department of Health has acknowledged the problems reported in the Sun, saying: “We know there is a problem with collecting surveillance data for the London PCTs. Senior officials at the Department of […]
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BT completes switch to Cerner
BT, the local service provider for London under the NHS IT investment programme, has confirmed that it has completed the switch from GE Healthcare to Cerner as its main clinical software sub-contractor. The company said in its its half year results today: "BT continues to make good progress on its NHS National Programme for Information Technology […]
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SNOMED set 31 December deadline for new SDO
Plans to create a SNOMED CT Standards Development Organisation by the end of the year have taken a step forward following a successful meeting of the potential charter members in Copenhagen last month. Representatives from Australia, Denmark, Lithuania, New Zealand and the UK all met with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to discuss the […]
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