London Ambulance computer crashes nine times
London Ambulance Service 999 emergency operators have been forced to manually write down emergency details and alert paramedics by radio, due to their computer system crashing nine times in the last fortnight. The system is supposed to feed emergency calls into a computer, and automatically alert the nearest ambulance. However an unspecified technical problem has […]
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Meet the suppliers: Ascribe
EHI talks to Stephen Critchlow, head of healthcare IT group Ascribe, about his clinical background and future plans for consolidation.
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NPfIT ‘favourability’ drops with managers
Both IM&T and general managers in the NHS appear to view the National Programme for IT less favourably than they did last year, though there is overwhelming support for the programme’s future aims, according to a new poll. The poll conducted by MORI for Connecting for Health revealed the drop in ratings from NHS managers […]
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Cayton to lead summary records taskforce
Patients’ ‘tsar’ and chair of the Care Records Development Board, Harry Cayton, will lead the taskforce set up to help get the NHS Summary Care Record underway and resolve outstanding issues over its introduction, it was announced today. The taskforce membership will also include leaders from the main clinical professions and representatives from patient groups […]
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Communication problems beset 7 July response
The emergency services and the London Ambulance Service in particular need to review its communication strategies and equipment in order to cope with major incidents such as the 7 July bombing, a report by the London Assembly has concluded. The use of mobile telephones to communicate between senior staff and the inability to communicate underground […]
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Ambulance trusts join map data sharing deal
Ambulance trusts in England will now have the opportunity to share geographical data with other trusts as part of a deal between the Health and Social Care Information Centre and Ordnance Survey. The Ordnance Survey has announced that 31 ambulance trusts will now be able to join the agreement, signed in November 2005. They will […]
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Scots ahead
Fiona Barr looks at how electronic summaries of GP records are already in operation in Scotland, accessible by out of hours providers and with A&E departments soon to be added.
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Ambulance service reports savings through IT
East Midlands Ambulance Service is claiming that installing a telephone assessment system and decision support tool has saved it around £1.8 million in 2005 through preventing unnecessary ambulance journeys. The TAS Odyssey system, from Plain Healthcare, helps to triage the least urgent category C calls received by the ambulance service. Despatchers put these calls […]
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Digital geographic information deal puts NHS on the map
More than 600 NHS organisations in England are to gain direct access to the Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital geographic information under a new pilot agreement with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). Geographic information can be used to help health managers identify health inequalities, record changes to patient catchment areas, carry out […]
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IT has critical role in patient safety, says watchdog
Public service watchdog, the National Audit Office, has underlined the key role IT should play in improving patient safety not only in avoiding medication errors but in supporting audit and providing information to professionals. An NAO report published today identifies medication errors, record documentation errors and communication failures as leading causes of incidents in which […]
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