Boxing Day Busiest Ever Day for NHS Direct
NHS Direct, the UK national telephone health advice service, had its busiest ever day on Boxing Bay, as the holiday season took its toll. The top enquiries were for vomiting, fever, coughs and diarrhoea. According to figures reported by the Guardian, the 24-hour nurse-led advice service took more than 24,000 calls on Boxing Day – […]
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£2M Investment Pledged for Cancer Information Systems
UK Health Minister Yvette Cooper has announced a new £2.3m package to invest in information systems to improve cancer monitoring and involve patients in developing cancer services in England. Some £2m will be invested in improving technology for collecting cancer data. The new money will be used to strengthen links with cancer networks and will […]
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2001: The Year the Money Disappeared
The NHS has stood at the cusp in 2001, its stark failures were laid bare by the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry and Shipman reports, and yet it was also the year in which a re-elected Labour Government pledged unprecedented investment in the service. Though the IT agenda has attracted few headlines, it has permeated both […]
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Smart Specimen Bag Launched
A new version of the humble pathology specimen bag that can integrate test request information with the electronic patient record is being piloted at NHS hospitals around the country. Speci-Sak II, made by MailmateSPS, is a plain specimen request form with a bag attached which goes through a specially adapted laser printer. Information recorded on […]
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IT Needed to Cut Drug Deaths
A new report by the Audit Commission has highlighted the need to invest in IT systems to cut the increasing number of patients who die after being given the wrong drugs in hospital. Approximately 1,200 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of the medication errors often caused by ineffective information […]
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Fitzpatrick Steps Down From Health Media Group
Tony Fitzpatrick has stepped down as chief executive of Health Media Group PLC, the leading UK online health content firm, following the release of a trading statement last week which said revenue will be below market expectations for the full year resulting in an operating loss. The company said the shortfall is the result of […]
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Dr Koop Lifecare files for Bankruptcy
Dr. Koop LifeCare Corp, the long-troubled US online health information provider, announced on Sunday that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary will cease operations and liquidate its assets after failing to come up with additional debt or equity financing. The Santa Monica, California-based company, once a darling of Wall Street, said its efforts to obtain additional […]
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US Alliance to Promote Electronic Medical Records
Leading US doctor, hospital and consumer groups have formed the Patient Safety Institute (PSI), a major new collaborative initiative designed to harness and integrate secure IT systems to improve patient safety and healthcare quality, The aim is to develop a confidential computer network, based on open standards, to electronically link medical records so doctors can […]
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Doctors Do Not Make Full Use of Electronic Records
Despite widespread implementation of electronic records, Norwegian doctors tend not to make full use of the functionality available to them in the systems, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers from Trondheim looked at how medical staff used three different systems installed in 32 units. In total they received views from […]
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Health Information More Popular than Games or Chat
More young people go online to search for health information than to play games, chat or take part in other popular Internet activities associated with the age group. A new US report, "Generation Rx.com", by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 68% of the population aged 15-24 use online media to learn about diabetes, AIDS […]
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