PACS underway in half of English trusts
Around half of trusts in England either have a picture archiving and communications system “happening, about to happen or happened”, the UK Radiological Congress in Birmingham heard this week National clinical lead for radiological imaging, Dr Erika Denton, said 63 business cases were approved out of a total of 134, 50 purchase orders had been […]
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Halligan speaks out on NHS leadership
Professor Aidan Halligan, a former joint senior responsible officer (SRO) for the National Programme for IT, has said that doctors’ substantial pay rises have made them no happier and what they really need is leadership to help them take advantage of smart processes and enabling technology to improve care. In an interview with the British Journal of […]
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Jeavons says CfH must adapt and evolve
A far-reaching review of the NHS IT modernisation programme is underway that will result in a re-prioritisation of the systems to be delivered by the £6.2 billion project. Richard Jeavons, Connecting for Health (CfH) director of service implementation told delegates at the first day of Healthcare Computing 2006 that the review now being carried out was […]
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Bush renews call for more use of healthcare IT
Health information technology advocates are hailing another call by US President George W. Bush for greater use of IT in healthcare, but understand that technology is only a small piece of an ambitious reform plan for 2006, reports US correspondent Neil Versel. In his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, Bush linked quality, affordable […]
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CfH due for restructuring in DH shuffle
NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) has signalled that it will undergo restructuring later this year as part of a wider reorganisation in the Department of Health. An announcement from CfH, which is currently designated as an agency of the Department of Health, says that the precise nature of the organisation and of the associated governance […]
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Whole NHS budget under the microscope
Reports today suggest that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) will be included in a review of all health budgets to ensure that every aspect of central spending is giving value for money. There are assurances, however, that existing commitments will be honoured. The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, confirmed the review during an interview on […]
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IT support key to NHS innovation and reform
IT support for staff and patients is recognised in the NHS chief executive’s latest report as a key element of the continuing growth, reform and improvement of the service. In the report, published this week, chief executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, says: “The experience of the last five years shows how important it is to innovate and […]
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iSoft in £10.6m deal to buy Spain’s Novasoft
iSoft the UK based healthcare solutions specialist, has bought leading Spanish healthcare IT provider, Novasoft Sanidad, in an agreement structured to cost up to £10.6m (€15.6m). The acquisition covers 100% of Novasoft and will involve paying an initial £6.1m (€9 million) in cash and 470,119 iSoft ordinary shares. iSoft’s announcement says a further consideration of […]
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Lib Dem NHS whistleblower site launched
The Liberal Democrats have launched a new campaigning website www.libdemnhswatch.com designed to enable members of the public and NHS staff to highlight problems in the frontline health service. The new website, designed to hear feedback and concerns from thousands of patients and medical professionals, is designed to connect the Lib Dems to the front line […]
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Illegal online pharmacies ‘threat to public health’
A paper published by think-tank the Centre for Reform has warned of the dangers of unregulated online pharmacies and is urging the government to take seriously the problem of prescription drugs being ordered with no medical checks on the patient. The paper, entitled ‘Online Pharmacy: Patient Choice or Patient Peril?’, a collation of speeches made […]
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