Hull-York students learn with virtual patients
Students at the Hull-York Medical School have become the first in England to incorporate the use of online virtual patients into their studies. The school, part of the new generation of medical schools in England, has adopted the use of virtual patients to support its problem-based approach to learning which brings students in contact with […]
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Missing IT Funds Threaten GP Contract
One of the BMA’s leaders on IT issues has warned that the new GP contract is at risk unless the Department of Health honours its pledge to provide funding to reimburse practice IT maintenance and upgrade costs as specified under the terms of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract. Improved primary care IT systems […]
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Reader Comment: ‘NPfIT Viewed from Scotland’
The following ‘reader comment’ was supplied in response to recent E-Health Insider reports on the development of the National Programme for IT. The author is a consultant anaesthetist at a leading Scottish acute trust, who leads on IT issues locally. There is much about the current national programme procurements and what they entail, and the machinations […]
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Reader Comments: Consultants Bite Back
Last week we published comments from NHS IT managers giving their perspective on the National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT) and its effect at local level. This week, management consultants have their say. A reader writes… Dear E-Health Insider, I am an independent management consultant who has been involved in a number of […]
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Can Clinical Trials Be Done on the Internet?
The Internet offers opportunities for studying some treatments quickly and effectively, according to a feasibility trial published in the British Medical Journal. There appear to be limits to the usefulness of the method explored, however. The study, conducted by rheumatology staff at the at the Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, suggested that the Internet-based approach […]
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LSP Clusters Shortlist Announced
The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS has announced its shortlist of Local Service Providers (LSPs) selected to compete for five contracts to carry out the government’s £2.3 billion transformation of health service IT in England. The same announcement also officially confirmed the three shortlisted bidders for the contract to be the National […]
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Relief Online for Mental Health Problems
Patients in a trust in north west England will soon be able to try out a new set multimedia programs to combat depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia. The 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust, which covers Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan & Leigh, is to trial the Ultrasis Relief Series a suite of online […]
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Information Vital to Extending Patient Choice
Health Secretary John Reid has upped the ante on the Government’s patient choice agenda and the electronic appointment booking targets, with a new pledge that by 2005 all patients will be offered at least four different choices over where they are treated when the initial decision is made by their GP to refer them for […]
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E-prescribing Arrives for Out-of-Hours GPs
A major step towards electronic prescribing for out-of-hours (OOH) doctors in England has been taken with the launch of new software supporting online prescribing by Adastra Software Ltd. Adastra, the provider of GP out-of-hours software to 80% of GP co-operatives, has incorporated e-prescribing tools into version three of its ‘OnLine Clinician’ software. Stockport and Nottingham […]
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Thames Valley ICRS Collaborative PFI Procurement Suspended
The Thames Valley Integrated Care Records Services (ICRS) collaborative procurement has become the latest high-profile NHS electronic records project to be put on hold, following a local decision to halt the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) procurement. At a meeting on 20 June the Programme Board in charge of the Thames Valley project decided to hold […]
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