Pharmacists may get access to patient care records
The government has announced it will investigate how community pharmacy access to the NHS Care Records Service could be achieved. The news comes despite BMA concerns about the impact on patient confidentiality of extending access to an additional professional group working in the commercial sector. The newly-published white paper on community pharmacy, Pharmacy in England: […]
News
NPfIT progress so far
Gordon Hextall, NHS CfH chief operating officer and interim director of programme and systems delivery, sets out progress on the NHS National Programme for IT.
Feature
HealthSpace wins clinician vote
HealthSpace, the NHS’s own personal health record project, has been voted the most exciting part of the NHS national IT programme. Dr Gillian Braunold, clinical lead for the Summary Care Record (SCR) and HealthSpace, revealed the results of the vote last week. Speaking on Thursday, 13 March at a DH press conference, she said “The […]
News
CfH expand ETD course offerings
Connecting for Health has announced two new additions to its Education, Training and Development (ETD) series, to be launched next month. The agency will be introducing the Essential IT Skills (EITS) Programme on 3 March to replace its European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) service, which is due to close on 21 March. The EITS Programme […]
News
Former IC chief loses tribunal claim
The former head of the NHS Information Centre, who claimed she was made a ‘scapegoat’ for a heavily criticised joint venture between the Department of Health (DH) and information specialists, Dr Foster, has failed to overturn a confidentiality agreement about the case. Professor Denise Lievesley, who was chief executive of the Information Centre (IC) from […]
News
Medics sceptical about government data security
Nine out of ten doctors have no confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard patient data online, a poll by BMA News magazine has revealed. Over 90% of respondents said they were not confident patient data on the proposed NHS centralised database would be secure. The magazine says the profession’s scepticism appears to flow from […]
News
Suspended doctor wins apology over share record
A junior doctor suspended by her employers for five years after objecting to her private medical records being given to researchers, has won a High Court battle forcing her employers to apologise to her in an open court session. The case highlights problems in the lack of patient consent in determining whether their records can […]
News
North Tees emergency unit opens with wireless
Emergency staff at the University Hospital of North Tees are using wireless technology to treat patients at their bedside and monitor bed occupancy in the hospital’s new emergency assessment unit. The new unit uses the trust’s wireless network to allow staff to use a mobile workstation at the patient’s bedside. An electronic whiteboard has also […]
News
Four-fifths of doctors say electronic record insecure
Four-fifths of doctors are concerned that current plans for patients’ health records to be available from a central database – the summary care record – will make them insecure, according to a survey for the Times. Asked what level of confidence they had that central health records will be secure, 80% of GP respondents said […]
News
Concern over use of post for patient records
Two PCTs send GP patient records in the regular post when patients move practice if the patients live just outside the areas it covers, EHI Primary Care has learnt. A GP practice in Kent alerted EHI Primary Care to the delivery process because it was concerned about the risk of losing records and the threat […]
News