First NPfIT deployment plans released
The £6.2 billion National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has published a summary of its deployment plans for the first time, indicating what new IT systems are intended to be deployed to NHS organisations and by when, writes Jon Hoeksma. According to the plan, which is available here, deployment of hospital administration and clinical systems will begin […]
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PR heavyweight appointed to sell NHS CRS
The NHS National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) has appointed communications consultancy giant Porter Novelli, part of the global marketing conglomerate Omnicom, to help deliver staff and public information campaigns about the NHS Care Records Service (CRS). Porter Novelli, one of the top seven PR agencies internationally, will help to deliver public information campaigns about […]
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£95m package to boost e-booking uptake
Primary care trusts (PCTs) that offer a choice of hospital treatment to non-emergency patients through the electronic ‘choose and book’ system will be rewarded under a new £95m scheme announced today by health secretary, John Reid. A new package of funds is designed to speed up the implementation of the government’s commitment that by 31 […]
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NAO finds Choose and Book running late
Technical problems, delays in delivering upgrades and failure to engage GPs means the roll-out of Choose and Book, the national electronic appointment booking system, is behind schedule and, at best, will only offer 60-70% availability by the end of 2005. As a result the Government target to deliver patient choice by the end of the […]
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E-booking to miss its appointment
Choose and Book, the programme for providing electronic patient appointment booking, will not deliver a fully featured system across the English NHS by December 2005, according to a letter from the Department of Health (DH) seen by E-Health Insider. Almost 15-months after the award of a five-year £64.5m contract to Schlumberger-Sema (since taken over by […]
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EMIS sets out its version of ‘fact and fiction’
Primary Care systems supplier EMIS has issued its customers with a briefing about its relationship with the NHS National Programme for IT, claiming it has been frozen out of the National Programme with GPs penalised if they wish to retain or move to EMIS systems. While the document, entitled ‘Fact not Fiction’, says that EMIS remains fully supportive of […]
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Criticism unhealthy for NPfIT, says Granger
The director general of NHS IT, Richard Granger, has spoken out against critics of the National Programme for IT, saying that many charges are just “plain wrong” and that a “toxic environment" is in danger of developing. “If we are not very careful”, said Granger in an interview with the Financial Times, “fewer people will […]
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NPfIT puts availability statistics online
The National Programme for IT have started to publish uptime statistics on their website for the data spine, N3 and Choose and Book, as well as the local North-East cluster’s SAP service, as provided by Accenture. Monthly and weekly uptime statistics are available, stretching back to September for the national services and November for the […]
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Flexibility key, says Forrest
In an exclusive interview, Martyn Forrest, Regional Implementation Director for the North East of England sets out the challenges of making sure NPfIT is delivered.
Feature
Choose and Book leaders answer their critics
Leaders of the Choose and Book programme this week attempted to answer concerns raised by GP representatives about the security and confidentiality of the new system. Medical director of Choose and Book, Professor Michael Thick, told a press conference that information passing through the booking process was treated with higher levels of confidentiality that those […]
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