HC2006 to run NHS basics course for new IT staff
The annual Healthcare Computing conference (HC2006) in Harrogate is to feature for the first time a series of workshops for technical staff new to the NHS. The stream, ‘Understanding Healthcare’, will be aimed at IT staff who have just joined the healthcare sector and be designed to educate them about the realities of healthcare […]
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New GP choice proposals outlined
NHS Connecting for Health has outlined new proposals for delivering GP system choice based on a multi-step accreditation process. If adopted, the approach could potentially enable practices to buy systems either directly from suppliers or from their local service providers and still have them funded by the national programme. The proposals now being consulted on […]
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Trials of ‘summary spine record’ to begin in 2006
Summaries of GP records from a small number of practices are to be loaded onto the NHS spine from August 2006 as part of a new evolutionary ‘pilot’, intended to test the basic concepts around shared summary care records. The strategy, set out in a consultative document published today, indicates a far more gradual approach […]
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Almost all NHS staff happy with ECDL
A new British Computer Society survey has found extremely high levels of satisfaction among NHS staff with the European Computer Driving Licence qualification. The BCS survey found that 96% of NHS employees who had taken the ECDL qualification expressed satisfaction with the organisation of the course and the testing criteria. Some 80% of respondents rated the […]
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Legal issues with GP data transfer mooted at HC2005
GPs who move their electronic patient record data to new systems may have to keep the old ones running concurrently for legal reasons, it was suggested at the primary care forum at Healthcare Computing 2005. Dr Glyn Hayes, chair of the British Computer Society Health Informatics Forum, who spoke at the ‘Primary Care in the world […]
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IT staff must adapt to outsourcing, say BCS
The British Computer Society (BCS) has published a report broadly welcoming the trend to outsource staff abroad, saying that the practice benefits the UK economy as a whole and IT professionals need to ‘upskill’ to keep up with the market. “The challenge for British professionals now is to gear up for the rapid globalisation of […]
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Radical Steps highlights serious concerns about NPfIT
The National Programme for IT is still failing to communicate what it will deliver, when it will deliver, and what the cost to local NHS organisations will be. In addition, few staff fully understand what the claimed clinical or business benefits of new systems procured will be, and clinical consultation on systems specifications remains limited. […]
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ASSIST to seek partnership with British Computer Society
ASSIST, the Association for ICT Professionals in Health and Social Care, has voted to seek partnership with the British Computer Society’s health informatics committee (BCSHIC). An “overwhelming” majority of members at the association’s annual general meeting on 20 May gave the group’s national council a mandate to pursue discussions already underway. The move will almost […]
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IT projects fail because best practice not applied
Billions of pounds are wasted every year on new IT systems, with only 16% that can be considered a true success, because of failure to apply established best practice, says a new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society. ‘The Challenge of Complex IT Projects’ says that despite many examples of […]
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Dr Gwyn Thomas: The NHSIA as a Service Provider
Understanding the complex shifting relationship between the NHS Information Authority and the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS has been difficult over the past year. However, in an exclusive interview with E-Health Insider, NHSIA chief executive Dr Gywn Thomas, argues that the NHSIA’s role has remained largely unchanged. “As a special health authority […]
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