Health organisations see rise in sick bill
Sick employees are costing health organisations a growing amount of money, according to a new online calculator. New figures from the www.costofabsence.com website said an average health organisation with 100 workers lost £82,300 on sickness absence in 2007 which worked out at £832 per employee per year. This compares with the £77,800 figure for 2006. […]
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NHS budget to reach £110 billion by 2011
The NHS is to receive an increased budget from £90 billion this year to £110 billion by 2010-11, an increase of 4%, the Chancellor announced on Tuesday. The additional investment should help the service realise savings of around £8.2 billion by 2010–11 with new technology helping to contribute to this. A £100m innovation fund is […]
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Medway bans Facebook use in work hours
Staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent, have been banned from using social networking website Facebook during working hours. The trust says the move is aimed at monitoring internet usage and optimising efficiency, denying reports the website was responsible for slowing down the hospital’s computer systems. Andy Horne, chief executive at Medway […]
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Wanless warns NPfIT risking NHS modernisation
In a review of NHS modernisation efforts Sir Derek Wanless has criticised the slow progress of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) and called for an audit of the programme to ensure it supports wider health service modernisation. The report warns that considerable challenges lie ahead in modernising NHS IT systems and says there is "continuing […]
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Report highlights NPfIT’s ‘impressive milestones’
‘Impressive milestones in the implementation of the National Programme for IT’ have been highlighted as one of the major achievements in the NHS in the first quarter of 2007/08, in a report published today. The IT programme is one of a number of key issues pulled out and focused upon to demonstrate good progress made […]
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CfH benefits bigger than problems
The new NHS computer system is fraught with problems but offers huge benefits if clinicians play a greater role in its creation, says Dr Henry Dowlen.
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RFID on the frontline
Using RFID to track high value medical equipment can save time and money, argues, Cisco’s Terry Espiner.
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Community network for St Helens and Knowsley
St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust have begun deploying a new £4.2m Community of Interest Network (COIN) to link all the healthcare providers in the region. The trust has signed a five year contract with ntl:Telewest Business to provide the community network, which will link 170 sites across the region. Through introducing the new […]
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Business as usual
Charlie McCaffrey, Carestream Health’s UK and Ireland managing director tells Linda Davidson about the company’s new name, new owners and its commitment to ‘business as usual’.
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Connecting for Health extends Microsoft licensing deal
Microsoft and NHS Connecting for Health have renewed their Enterprise Wide Agreement (EWA), following the completion of the first three years of the contract. The agreement covers most of the Microsoft Desktop and personal productivity software for up to 850,000 NHS users. The deal for the first time covers Microsoft Exchange and includes anti-virus technology […]
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