MP calls for clarity on payments to iSoft
Following yesterday’s suspension of iSoft co-founder, Steve Graham, pending investigation of possible accounting irregularities, Richard Bacon MP, has called for the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, to confirm whether advance payments were made to iSoft under the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT). The Conservative MP, a leading member of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee […]
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Staff cost savings claimed with e-rostering
The days of ward managers steeling themselves to work out staff rosters using pencils, paper and a large eraser may be numbered, according to Manpower Software which claims savings of £500,000 a year at two NHS trusts using its electronic rostering solution. A report published earlier this month by the National Audit Office on improving […]
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London Cerner switch announcement imminent
NHS acute trusts in the capital will next week receive letters from BT notifying them that it has terminated its contract with GE Healthcare and instead awarded a contract to Cerner to supply its Millennium clinical software to hospitals. The imminent switch to Cerner, first reported by E-Health insider on 13 June, is expected to […]
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NPfIT scrutinised by Public Accounts Committee
The Public Accounts Committee hearing into the NHS National Programme for IT yesterday heard that the £12.4bn programme is largely on track, apart from its central component, the NHS Care Records Service, which is intended to deliver rich local clinical systems and a national database of summary records. Just 12 acute trusts have so far received […]
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CfH accused of ‘sham’ on clinical consultation
Perhaps the most unexpected part of the Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing on the National Programme for IT this week was the appearance of two senior figures from the programme’s early days – Dr Anthony Nowlan and Professor Peter Hutton – who came back to haunt the proceedings with accusations about lack of clinical engagement. Professor Hutton, a distinguished […]
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Hewitt urged to block software switch in London
Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, has been asked to block the possible move by BT to replace its software supplier for electronic patient records in London as part of the NHS National programme for IT (NPfIT). Richard Bacon, MP, a senior member of the House of Commons Public accounts committee (PAC), last night wrote to […]
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CfH may hand money back to Treasury
While many NHS trusts are thought to be struggling to achieve financial balance, NHS Connecting for Health, the Department of Health agency running health service IT programme is believed to be in the unusual position of handing money back to Treasury. In total NHS CfH is thought to be up to £700m underspent in 2005-2006, against […]
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Implementation schedule slips in South
The introduction of the NHS Care Records Service in the South of England is set to be delayed following a revamp of the software to introduce new functionality and to address issues identified in the "white knuckle" initial implementation at Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford. E-Health insider has learned from well placed sources that the next […]
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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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EHI cited by Commons Public Accounts Committee
The Department of Health director responsible for the NHS National Programme for IT was taken to task last week by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on NHS Smart Cards, following an article by E-Health Insider. John Bacon, the DH’s Group Director of Health and Social Care Delivery, and the senior responsible officer for […]
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