GP representatives to call for public enquiry on CRS
GPs representatives are to hear calls for a public inquiry into the cost of the NHS Care Records Service (CRS) at the national local medical committees’ (LMCs) conference next week. Doctors will also consider a call for Choose and Book to be suspended. A priority motion at the LMCs conference demands that a public inquiry […]
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Primary care to complete NPfIT by 2010
Primary care will have delivered most of its part of the National Programme for IT by 2010, according to Connecting for Health’s joint GP clinical lead Professor Mike Pringle. Prof Pringle told a conference organised by IT system supplier TPP (The Phoenix Partnership) that NPfIT’s vision for primary care was on track while most of […]
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GPs to continue to get financial incentives for C+B
The national incentive scheme to reward GP practices for using Choose and Book is to continue for 2007/8, following months of uncertainty about funding for the e-booking scheme. NHS Employers and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee have announced that the directed enhanced service (DES) for choice and booking will be rolled over for […]
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Patients rate choice as a low priority
Choice finished near-bottom of a list of 82 priorities shown to patients in a study carried out for the health regulator, the Healthcare Commission. There were three statements in the inpatient importance questionnaire asking respondents whether they were offered a choice of admission date, choice of hospital, and information to make an informed choice of hospital. […]
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EMIS seeks 100 pilot practices for patient record access
A patient record access group is looking for 100 EMIS practices to take part in a pioneering project allowing patients to view their medical records over the internet. The Record Access Collaborative, run by South-east London GP Dr Brian Fisher and funded by EMIS, has been testing patient record access in an informal project involving […]
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Choose and Book use by GPs falls
Latest Choose and Book statistics show that use of the system fell after the end of the financial year and numbers are only now beginning to return to levels first achieved in March. The drop in use of the e-booking system is thought to be partly the result of the Easter break and partly the […]
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East and Midlothian physios get referral call centre
Therapists in the East Lothian and Midlothian Community Health Partnerships will be the first Scottish users of a centralised referral and appointment booking call centre, using an appointment module from Ethitec’s Tiara9 electronic patient record system. The East and Midlothian Physiotherapy Services has been using the Tiara 9 EPR system since 1995 and felt that the […]
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Hewitt launches ‘Choose and Book’ librarians
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has launched ten ‘choice’ library pilots. Librarians in the pilots will be trained to help people find and make sense of information about different healthcare providers and "choose and book" their hospital appointment. A DH spokesperson told EHI that the librarians would help people better understand the choices available to them, but would […]
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GPs vote against C+B boycott
GP representatives have voted against a boycott of Choose and Book and left it up to individual practices to decide if they want to stop using the e-booking system. The British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee (GPC) last week narrowly voted against a proposal that GPs should stop using Choose and Book as part of […]
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GP representatives consider Choose and Book boycott
A boycott of Choose and Book and non co-operation with the National Programme for IT are among the sanctions to be considered by GP representatives this week in response to the profession’s 0% pay rise. The threat to continuing use of the Choose and Book system comes as GPs’ incentive scheme for e-booking is due […]
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