Major Multilex DDF update to support CfH requirements
First Databank Europe (FDBE) has completed a major upgrade to its Multilex Drug Data File (Multilex DDF) to include integration of SNOMED-CT and the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (NHS dm+d). FDBE says the new release is designed to support customers in meeting NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) requirements, including the National Care Records […]
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Online clinical incident reporting cuts admin
A primary care trust has deployed a web-based reporting tool to log clinical incidents in real time. Last month 64% of incidents were logged online and the trust says deployment of the system is already significantly reducing the administrative and managerial burden of reporting clinical incidents and has led to closer working between the clinical governance […]
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Choose and Book progresses amid target row
More than 20% of referrals are now being made using Choose and Book, according to latest figures from NHS Connecting for Health, but the scrapping of usage targets has upset several practices. Over the last two months the number of referrals going through the e-booking system has increased from an average of 6,000 a day […]
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Hospital mobile phone blanket bans criticised
Both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Parliament’s Health Select Committee have said that there are no technical reasons why mobile phones should be banned outright from hospitals. The MHRA, the government agency responsible for medical safety, issued a release after continuing enquiries from the public, patients and staff about the status of […]
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Public awareness low on e-health services
A picture of low public awareness of electronic health services emerges from a new survey of users with NHS Direct, the 24 hour online and telephone advice service, proving to be the exception to the rule. The ntl:Telewest Digital NHS 2006 Study found that, while 72% of respondents had heard of NHS Direct, recognition rates […]
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Warning on good practice in data sharing
The Information Commissioner (IC) has issued a warning to the government and other public bodies to share data properly or risk losing public confidence. In his annual report Richard Thomas highlights the renewed focus on projects to share information among public sector bodies and acknowledges the potential benefits of such projects. However he claims that there […]
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Wirral rolls out electronic ordering to GPs
GP practices across Wirral and surrounding areas in North-west England are due to rollout a new electronic ordering system for laboratory tests. Wirral Remote Order Communications System (WROCS) was piloted in four practices between March and May. Wirral Health Informatics Service says plans are now underway to fully implement WROCS to Wirral’s 60 GP practices […]
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Clinicians warn CRS will damage confidentiality
Concerns about the negative impact that the planned national database of patient records, the NHS Care Record Service national record, will have on patient confidentiality have been voiced by frontline doctors, Writing in the British Medical Journal several doctors set out their concerns about the impact on patient confidentiality of the creation one database containing the […]
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Deaf signing shows videoconferencing’s potential
A service that offers deaf patients and their clinicians quick access to a sign language interpreter via a video link shows one of many ways IP [Internet Protocol] networks are changing the way healthcare can be delivered, networking specialists, Cisco Systems, say. Cisco has provided networks for Significan’t , an award-winning social enterprise which has become a source […]
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Four new areas for IT policy named by DH
Four significant new areas for NHS information and IT policy are identified in the Department of Health’s new plans for commissioning services in England. The newly-published plan for the NHS commissioning framework says consultations with 150 stakeholders indicate that the patient-centred approach of the current information strategy is right – but four new areas for […]
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