North Cumbria PCTs get community PAS
Three primary care trusts in North Cumbria have begun implementation of new community PAS systems that connect with the NHS data spine, as part of the NHS National Programme for IT. District nurses and community hospital staff across three PCTs, Carlisle and District, Eden Valley and West Cumbria, are now beginning to use the system installed by […]
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18,000 GPs registered for care records
The number of NHS staff registered to eventually use the national NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS), when it becomes available, has trebled in the past two months and by the beginning of August stood at 75,216. According to figures obtained by E-Health Insider by the beginning of August there were 18,981 GPs registered to […]
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Crossed wires
Despite a bumpy start, the first booking made with IBS over Choose and Book in Wandsworth was a success, EHI Primary Care reports.
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Increase seen in patient booking calls
The call centre set up to deal with Choose and Book appointments is beginning to receive a small number of calls but is calling on GPs to publicise its services more widely. Dilip Chakrabarti, national director of Booking and Choice at NHS Direct, said the Choose and Book Appointments Line (CABAL) is now receiving 120 […]
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Granger warns of Choose and Book brief ‘snowballing’
Constant changes in the requirements for Choose and Book by the Department of Health and lack of clarity on the boundaries of patient choice have created delays in implementation and are increasing the risk of a "sub-optimal" electronic booking system being delivered. This was the tough message delivered to NHS senior managers at the NHS […]
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GPs vote against NHS Connecting for Health
Despite improved relationships with the leadership of the BMA, last week’s Local Medical Committees’ (LMC) conference revealed just how far Connecting for Health still has to go to win the confidence and support of grass-roots GPs. NHS Connecting for Health’s (CfH) GP clinical leads last week failed to win over delegates at the BMA’s main family […]
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Choose and Book set to miss 2005 targets
The government’s targets for the implementation of Choose and Book this year look almost certain to be missed, despite being one of the health department’s key priorities. Continuing problems with clinical engagement and delays in implementing fully integrated Choose and Book systems are two of the key issues holding back roll-out of the system according […]
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PCT issues smartcards with identical PINs
A primary care trust issued smartcards to all its practices which had the same PIN for every user; and furthermore, the number was stuck on the back of every card. A GP in Essex told members of the online GP-UK discussion group about the breach of security procedures for the Connecting for Health smartcards,which happened at a practice already using […]
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Choose and Book may get mobile txt reminders
Plans are being drawn up to introduce a national automatic appointment reminder service to cut missed appointments by patients, a problem estimated to cost the NHS up to £250 million a year. The aim is to introduce the system next year as part of Choose and Book, the late-running national electronic appointment booking service. EHI […]
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Patient information site rivals NHS Direct Online
Patient information website patient.co.uk has claimed that it is now as popular as NHS Direct Online, with just under 1.2m visitors received last month. The site, maintained by husband and wife team Dr Tim and Beverley Kenny, contains the same patient information leaflets that health professionals give to patients about any conditions that they are diagnosed with, […]
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