GPs highlight “clunky” functionality of C+B
The Choose and Book system is "clunky and cumbersome" and slower than the paper-based referral mechanism it is intended to replace, according to GPs. In a survey of 40 practices undertaken by the GP magazine Pulse, respondents complained of lack of standardisation and speed of the internet browser-based software. Dr Patrick Clarke, a GP in […]
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Mixed feelings from GPs in new survey on NPfIT
A new survey of GPs shows a widespread dislike of Choose and Book, but optimism that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) will bring improvements in clinical care in the longer term. There were concerns, too, about patient privacy with 71% of GP respondents saying that the NHS Care Records Service would mean the confidentiality […]
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Councils lag behind on telecare plans
A minority of councils in England are starting to put plans in place for telecare services but most have made few or no preparations, according to survey. The survey results are based on a questionnaire about telecare circulated by independent consultancy, the Telecare Alliance, to the 150 councils in England with responsibility for social services. […]
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Technology effective in dementia home care
Assistive technology for dementia sufferers living at home can be cost-effective, increase patients’ independence and deliver support to unpaid carers, but it must be properly targeted and maintained, according to an extensive new study by the head of a Northamptonshire care project. The study ‘Safe at Home: The effectiveness of assistive technology in supporting the […]
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Granger says NPfIT in danger of being derailed
The director in charge of the £6.2 billion NHS National Programme for IT has warned that the project is in “grave danger” of being “derailed”, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails. The claim was made by NHS IT director General Richard Granger, in an email to Margaret Edwards, director of access and patient choice, at the […]
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Two lines to combat GP cynicism – Jeavons
Connecting for Health’s director of service implementation, Richard Jeavons, has attributed GP cynicism about IT modernisation to the newspapes and reports from Parliament’s scrunineer of public spending, the National Audit Office. After speaking at the New Frontiers conference in London this week, Jeavons was asked by a GP clinical lead how cynical colleagues who have […]
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Diabetes care guideline recommends use of IT
New international guidance on type 2 diabetes management has included recommendations for making telephone support and electronic medical records available to patients. The first Global Guideline for Type 2 Diabetes, published this week by the International Diabetes Federation, advises on three levels of care: Standard care; evidence-based care which is cost-effective in most nations with a […]
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PCT chiefs warn on reconfiguration plans
41% of primary care trust chief executives think that the planned reconfiguration of their organisations will have a negative effect on implementing the National Programme for IT, according to a survey this week. Only 12% thought there would be a positive effect and 47% thought there would be no effect. ‘Rushed’, ‘incoherent’, ‘political’ and ‘vague’ were […]
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QoF data to be published online
Practices will no longer have to release Quality and Outcome Framework data if asked to do so under the Freedom of Information Act as data will be in the public domain from tomorrow (August 31), GPs have been told. Revised guidance on the Freedom of Information Act from the British Medical Association’s GP committee advises GPs […]
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‘Unplugged’ Choose and Book offered for download
Connecting for Health have released a browser-based, limited-functionality demonstration of Choose and Book for anyone to download. Entitled Choose and Book Unplugged Version 1, it features referring clinician and service provider clinician functionality and is based around release 2.1 of Choose and Book. The release notes stress that the CAB Unplugged "is not a copy of […]
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