Uncertainty shrouds EMIS negotiations
Almost two months after GP software market leader EMIS first publicly stated that the company would not sign contracts with Local Service Providers there is still no indication of whether the current market leader in primary care clinical systems will participate in the National Programme for IT. Enquires by E-Health Insider over recent weeks to both […]
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National programme says NHSmail was ‘unacceptable’
The National Programme for IT has said that the decision to terminate the £90 million contract with EDS for a national NHS email and directory service, just 18 months after it was signed, was taken because EDS was failing to deliver and take-up of the service too low. With the future of the NHSmail service […]
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Parliamentary briefing paper sets out challenges for NPfIT
A new parliamentary briefing paper on the National Programme for IT has highlighted stakeholder involvement, communications, "imposing change on a highly devolved NHS", and the complexity of the programme each as potential areas of concern for the success of the project. ‘New NHS IT’ a Parliamentary briefing note prepared by the Parliamentary Office of Science […]
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Disclosure: a key issue for Caldicott Guardians in 2004
The UK’s 1,000 plus Caldicott Guardians, champions for data protection in the NHS and social care, have a packed agenda for 2004 and a new group, the UK Council of Caldicott Guardians, to support them. E-Health Insider talked to the NHS Information Authority’s guardian, DrJanine Brooks, who is helping to set up the council . Speaking […]
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NPfIT launches patient and clinician advisory groups
The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has launched two new consultative groups to help shape the future direction of the programme. Healthcare professionals will be represented through the National Clinical Advisory Board (NCAB), while patients will have a voice through the Patient Advisory Board (PAB). With the first contracts for the national programme now only […]
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UK Doctors Still ‘Out of Office’ to Patients Online
Email may be the most powerful new communications tool since the telephone. But despite its clear potential in health, the BMA remains sceptical and few British doctors have yet embraced email communications with patients. Stephen Pincock reports on why most doctors remain ‘out of office’ online. Ask the British Medical Association about its view on […]
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Schlumberger-Sema Looks Set to Win E-Booking Contract
Schlumberger-Sema and its partner Cerner look set to emerge as the winner of the prestigious contract for a national electronic appointment booking system. The contract will be the first major systems procurement contract to be awarded by the National programme for IT in the NHS. Following the ‘de-selection’ last week of EDS from the e-booking […]
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ICRS Targets “Won’t Be Reached”
A pessimistic view of the chances of hitting targets for getting the Integrated Care Record Service (ICRS) up and running emerged with week from an audience poll at the Clinical Information Systems and Electronic Records conference in London. Organisers conceded that the poll returns were a small sample of opinion, but the response was unequivocal: […]
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NPfIT Contract Negotiations Get Tough
The long-term future of a key pillar of the Government’s modernisation strategy for the NHS depends on what increasingly resembles a game of chicken, now being played out between the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) and the suppliers left in the contract negotiations for the procurement competitions. Participants in this high-stakes game of poker describe […]
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Clinician Involvement Essential in IT Planning Says BMJ
The essential importance of involving frontline clinicians in the evolution of their workplace information systems is underlined this week in a British Medical Journal editorial. Writing about the evolution of the national data spine, Dr Nick Booth from the Centre for Health Services Research at Newcastle University, says: “So far the new team running the […]
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