NHS London reconfiguration to be axed
The government is set to scrap a far-reaching reconfiguration of health services in London, including hospital mergers and closure of A&E units. The plans, which centred on the creation of ‘polysystems’ and involved hospital mergers and new polyclinics, took some three years to compile and were projected to save £5 billion a year by 2016. They […]
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Burns and Burstow join health team
Two health ministers have been appointed to join health secretary Andrew Lansley at the Department of Health. The appointment of Conservative Simon Burns and Liberal Democrat Paul Burstow suggests there may not be a ministerial place for Conservative Stephen O’Brien or Lib Dem Norman Lamb, who both shadowed health in opposition. However, the junior ministerial […]
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Lansley gets health job in tough times
The new health secretary has confirmed that the NHS will receive ‘real terms’ increases in funding, but this will not make it immune from the need to find ‘efficiency savings’.
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ContactPoint to be scrapped
The controversial children’s database ContactPoint is to be scrapped by the new government, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have revealed.
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Insider View: Jon Hoeksma
E-Health Insider editor Jon Hoeksma argues that an incoming UK government looking to make savings may find the £3 billion of unsigned CSC deals an irresistible target.
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EHI Interview: Norman Lamb
As part of EHI’s general election coverage, Sarah Bruce talks to the Lib Dem health spokesman.
Feature
Records pledge in Conservative manifesto
The general election The Conservative election manifesto has reiterated the Tories’ pledge to give patients online control of their own health records. No details are given of how this will be achieved; leaving open the possibility that a Conservative government might look beyond the NHS’s own HealthSpace to more eye-catching deals with Google or Microsoft. […]
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Health secretary describes Burnham Land
The general election Health secretary Andy Burnham has started his election campaign with a speech outlining the key points of Labour’s health manifesto. In a speech at the King’s Fund think-tank, he said the party would enable a more preventative, productive and patient-centred NHS. Burnham did not mention the National Programme for IT in the […]
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Labour to publish government contracts
The government will publish online all public service contracts worth more than £20,000 by the end of 2010, Gordon Brown has said in a speech on Building Britain’s Digital Future.
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O’Brien claims govt may lock-in NPfIT
Conservative health spokesman Stephen O’Brien has accused the government of trying to tie the hands of an incoming Tory government over the future of the National Programme for IT in the NHS. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, O’Brien said he was “very concerned” that the current negotiations that are being held […]
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