Choose and Book adopters to get tech support
The Department of Health is set to launch a high level technical help scheme to support local Choose and Book implementation after lessons from the early adopters showed IT support is vital to success. Jane Cummings, national implementation director, told a conference organised by HSJ this week: “Lots of the issues in the early adopter […]
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Choose and Book a ‘fiasco’, claims BMA chair
The chairman of the British Medical Association has criticised the government’s choice agenda and dubbed Choose and Book a “fiasco” that takes no account of how GPs and hospitals work. Jim Johnson told the BMA’s annual meeting this week that Connecting for Health was facing problems because it had failed to listen to doctors, nurses […]
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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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LMCs to debate no confidence motion in PCOs IT
IT funding for GPs, Choose and Book and patient confidentiality are all set to be the subject of criticism from GPs at this month’s national local medical committees’ conference. Motions to the conference include one calling for Choose and Book to be abandoned and several claiming that patient confidentiality is being put at risk by […]
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Reboot for South
E-Health Insider Editor Jon Hoeksma examines the significance of the decision to replace IDX as the clinical systems provider for the NHS in the South of England.
Feature
Electronic record content still up for discussion
The question of what information will go on a local record and what will go on a national summary record is still open for discussion, a medical conference in London heard last week. The conference “Challenges for Doctors in the Digital World” was held the day after the launch of the new Care Record Guarantee […]
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Suppliers advised to develop standalone software
Connecting for Health (CfH) has confirmed that it is advising its suppliers to develop standalone versions of their applications, not reliant on the NHS Spine, in order to prevent further implementation delays. A CfH spokesperson told E-Health Insider that the spine remained an "important component of the strategy that the National Programme for IT is […]
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