Computer access for hospital doctors poor, say BMA
Some hospital doctors are expressing concerns that they do not have enough access to computers and e-mail to do their work, raising problems of patient confidentiality as many terminals are situated in public areas or have multiple users. The claim comes as part of a motion put forward today at the British Medical Association’s Staff […]
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PCT issues smartcards with identical PINs
A primary care trust issued smartcards to all its practices which had the same PIN for every user; and furthermore, the number was stuck on the back of every card. A GP in Essex told members of the online GP-UK discussion group about the breach of security procedures for the Connecting for Health smartcards,which happened at a practice already using […]
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Txtg cn help u quit cigs
Texting young smokers on their mobile phones using personalised messages, could potentially help them quit, according to research published this month. A randomised controlled trial conducted in New Zealand found 28% of young smokers in an ‘active’ texting group gave up smoking after six weeks of messaging compared with 13% in a control group that […]
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Common Scottish EHR in three years, report advises
Scotland should aim to have its own electronic health record system within three years, a report into the future development of NHS Scotland has recommended. The Kerr report, developed by a team led by Professor David Kerr, aimed to set out how NHS Scotland should evolve over the next few decades. Among its recommendations, it […]
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LMCs to debate no confidence motion in PCOs IT
IT funding for GPs, Choose and Book and patient confidentiality are all set to be the subject of criticism from GPs at this month’s national local medical committees’ conference. Motions to the conference include one calling for Choose and Book to be abandoned and several claiming that patient confidentiality is being put at risk by […]
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Voice recognition on the web for clinical data entry
A Glasgow-based company has developed a voice recognition system aimed at healthcare professionals that enables them to speak into their clinical systems over any web browser. The Voice Messenger system, which is being launched by Voice Technologies at next week’s UK Radiological Congress in Manchester, sits on a web server and receives voice data over […]
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Lack of leadership at NHS 24 leads to shake up
Lack of leadership and problems with responding to peak demand have been identified as key issues dogging the Scottish healthcare helpline, NHS 24, in an interim review of the troubled service. Vice-chair of Tayside Health Board, George King, has been brought as interim chair to help solve problems outlined in the review and implement a set of recommendations. […]
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Reaction to IDX replacement
NHS IT leaders and industry experts have given a mixed reaction to the news that IDX is to be replaced as the clinical software provider for the South of England, with a widespread expectation that the change will lead to further delays in delivering new systems. The prospects of improving on the current delivery schedule, […]
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New professional standards for team records
Regulators of health professionals have signed up to new standards for keeping records of team-based care in all formats, including electronic records. The standards draw together best practice from nursing, midwifery, medicine, dentistry and the professions allied to medicine in four areas: confidentiality and disclosure; communication of information; process principles; and professional and personal knowledge […]
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£300K upgrade for Withybush network
Withybush Hospital in south-west Wales has upgraded its IT network infrastructure supported by £300,000 worth of investment from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Informing Healthcare Programme. Robin Jones, IM&T manager for hospital’s trust, Pembrokeshire & Derwen NHS Trust, said the new infrastructure had realised a 100-fold bandwidth improvement in some parts of the hospital’s network, eliminated […]
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