NHS broadband leaves GPs in slow lane
Many GP practices are struggling with inadequate broadband speeds over N3 (the new NHS National Network) which are slowing down their day-to-day work and limiting their ability to use key national computer systems from the £12.4bn Connecting for Health programme. Choose and Book has been particularly affected and GPs have told EHI Primary Care about […]
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Fair deal on NHS broadband
This week EHI Primary Care launches Fair Deal on NHS Broadband, a campaign to get GPs the fast broadband they need.
Feature
DH survey reveals choice recall of just 30%
Only 30% of patients can recall being offered a choice of hospital for their outpatient appointments, according to figures from the National Patient Choice Survey, commissioned by the Department of Health. Around 79,000 patients were questioned by Ipsos MORI to monitor their awareness of choice and to see if they could recall the choices of […]
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Unichem connects for Electronic Prescription Service
Pharmaceutical wholesaler UniChem and its retail arm Alliance Pharmacy has announced that it has selected virtual networking company Sirocom to provide a managed broadband service to 1,000 of its pharmacies. The broadband connections are being implemented to enable the roll out of Electronic Prescribing Services by connecting allowing its pharmacies to connect to the NHS […]
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Upgrade leaves practice without consultant letters
A practice has had to run consultations without access to consultants’ letters for almost a month because of an IT problem it says was created by a server upgrade for Choose and Book. Dr Paul Thornton, a GP in Kingsbury, Warwickshire, contacted EHI Primary Care this week after what he described as “extensive attempts” to […]
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CfH poll reveals gaps in staff knowledge of NPfIT
Connecting for Health has announced the results of its own poll among NHS clinicians and managers and allied health professionals into perceptions, opinions and hopes and fears for the National Programme for IT, which has revealed there are still wide differences between clinicians and managers about the awareness of the programme. Front-line staff showed the […]
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E-health and the EU
The UK’s presidency of the EU promises to be a significant one for e-health, Lyn Whitfield reports.
Feature
CfH report hails “foundations” of reform
Over 30,000 clinicians are now registered users of the NHS Care Records Service ‘data spine’ and over 124,000 users have registered with Contact, the secure e-mail and directory service, according to the annual report from Connecting for Health (CfH). Chief executive, Richard Granger, concludes in his foreword to the report: "The foundations have been […]
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N3 hits 6,000 installations milestone
More than 6000 GP surgeries are now connected to the NHS broadband, N3, NHS Connecting for Health has claimed; however, installation has not been without problems. In a written statement, an NHS CfH spokesman said: "As at 31 March 2005, there were 6036 commissioned sites which were supporting live traffic on that date. In addition, […]
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NHS seeks £4.5m from BT over broadband delays
The National Programme for IT in the NHS is claiming up to £4.5m in compensation from BT for late delivery in providing the high speed broadband connections vital to providing new services under the £6.2 billion NHS IT modernisation programme. According to a report in today’s Financial Times, BT and the NHS say they are […]
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