Ex-NHSIA chief comes home again to Wales
Gwyn Thomas, former chief executive of the now-defunct NHS Information Authority, is the new Director of the NHS Wales Informing Healthcare Programme. The general election means that Dr Thomas is not available for interview but he said in the official announcement from the National Public Health Service for Wales: “I look forward to working with […]
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Carry your medical records on a USB drive
A biochemistry professor has developed a USB key chain so that people can carry around their own electronic medical records downloaded from their doctor’s record system. The MedInfo Chip (right), developed by Dr Carl Franzblau, chairman and professor of biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medicine, is essentially a key drive that incorporates all the […]
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Hutton defends premium rate patient calls
Health minister John Hutton has defended the use of premium rate bedside telephones in hospitals, calling them "a vital direct link" to the outside world for patients. In response to a parliamentary question about the use and cost of the service just before the dissolution of parliament at the announcement of the general election, the […]
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NI GPs fear raid on computer money
GPs in Northern Ireland say money earmarked for primary care IT has been subject to huge delays and fear the funds could now be used for non-IT projects. The Northern Ireland LMCs’ conference this week unanimously passed a motion calling for an inquiry into why £5million pledged for primary care IT was not released until […]
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Doctors to get say on future of NHS IT
Grassroots doctors are to get the chance to tell the National Programme for IT, now known as NHS Connecting for Health, how they think the programme should go forward on key issues like confidentiality at a BMA conference next month. The conference on May 24, entitled ‘Challenges for doctors in the digital world’, aims to […]
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Doctors to get say on future of NHS IT
Grassroots doctors are to get the chance to tell the National Programme for IT, now known as NHS Connecting for Health, how they think the programme should go forward on key issues like confidentiality at a BMA conference next month. The conference on May 24, entitled Challenges for Doctors in the Digital World, aims to bring […]
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Computer equipment could help MRSA spread
Keyboards and computer equipment installed in hospitals may aid the spread of ‘superbug’ bacteria such as MRSA, a study in a Chicago hospital has revealed. Just touching a keyboard is enough to pick up the bacteria and potentially pass it on to a patient, according to the results of the study. Furthermore, cleaning the equipment […]
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European health IT market to double by 2010
A new report has predicted that the existing fragmented European Healthcare IT industry, with different vendors control different niche segments, is rapidly moving towards consolidation and may double in size within five years. The report by market analysts Frost & Sullivan values the European healthcare information system (HIS) market as valued at $3.13 bn in 2003, […]
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‘Connect with GPs’ call for IT modernisers
A GP magazine has called on Connecting for Health (formerly the National Programme for IT) to connect with its readers following a survey of NHS IT modernisation. Pulse magazine says respondents to its Agenda 2005 survey condemned the government’s "entire approach to IT." It says half of 1003 respondents felt the government’s IT policy ‘badly’ […]
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NHS coping with FOI so far
A new survey indicates that most NHS organisations have so far only received a limited number of Freedom of Information requests and have coped with them reasonably well. The survey of 66 NHS organisations reveals that all but a handful were dealing with information requests within the statutory 20-day limit. The organisations that took part […]
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