Lack of NPfIT involvement concerns nurses
Two leading nurses have expressed deep concern at the lack of involvement of the nursing community in the design of and preparation for the National Programme for IT. Professor Dame June Clark, chair of the Royal College of Nursing Information in Nursing Forum, and Richard Hayward, chair of the British Computer Society health informatics (nursing) […]
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QoF scores rise in Scottish practices
GP practices in Scotland have increased their performance under the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) this year, earning 1026 points out of a possible 1050 points available. The achievement, worth approximately £128,000 for a practice with average list size and disease prevalence, means Scottish practices have earned more than 97% of the points available this […]
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Freeview plans for NHS Direct
NHS Direct is planning to make its interactive digital TV service available via Freeview. The health information service, which recorded its busiest ever month in May, is in negotiations to expand its digital TV service, which is currently only available on Sky, to cover Freeview as well. The health helpline predicts that it gets around […]
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MP quizzes Blair on national programme money
An opposition MP has asked for Prime Minister Tony Blair’s personal assurance that public money has not been given to companies involved in the National Programme for IT that have not delivered, naming iSoft as an example. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Question Time, Richard Bacon, Conservative MP for South Norfolk, said: “Would the Prime Minister […]
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Poor security in NHS portable data storage, says survey
A survey into the use of portable storage devices by NHS professionals and suppliers has revealed that half of those interviewed use their own devices to store data and 20% of the devices used are left unencrypted with no password protection. A total of 40% of clinicians and IT managers said that they used passwords […]
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NPfIT scrutinised by Public Accounts Committee
The Public Accounts Committee hearing into the NHS National Programme for IT yesterday heard that the £12.4bn programme is largely on track, apart from its central component, the NHS Care Records Service, which is intended to deliver rich local clinical systems and a national database of summary records. Just 12 acute trusts have so far received […]
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CfH accused of ‘sham’ on clinical consultation
Perhaps the most unexpected part of the Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing on the National Programme for IT this week was the appearance of two senior figures from the programme’s early days – Dr Anthony Nowlan and Professor Peter Hutton – who came back to haunt the proceedings with accusations about lack of clinical engagement. Professor Hutton, a distinguished […]
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Anti-fraud software extended to all NHS acute trusts
A pilot scheme that detected nearly £1m of duplicate and fraudulent payments by the public sector has been extended to include all NHS acute trusts. The Audit Commission’s creditor data matching exercise, in which NHS and local authority records are matched against each other and records from Companies House with the results fed back to trusts […]
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CfH still sidelining doctors, BMA chair claims
The chairman of the British Medical Association has told his members that “another year has been wasted” in efforts to implement the National Programme for IT. In his keynote address to the BMA’s annual representative meeting (ARM) Mr James Johnson claimed that doctors were being marginalised in all aspects of system reform and that Connecting […]
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Lengthy delivery for NPfIT maternity systems
The delivery of new maternity systems as part of the NHS IT programme has stalled, E-Health Insider has learned. Not a single hospital has yet received a new system, and a leading obstetrician has warned that the delays are creating potential “clinical risks” to mothers and children. The lengthy delays to maternity software are causing […]
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