Mike O’Brien new minister for NHS IT
Mike O’Brien, the MP for North Warwickshire, has become the latest minister to take responsibility for NHS Connecting for Health and NHS IT. O’Brien, a former solicitor general, was minister for pension reform at the Department of Work and Pensions before Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s reshuffle this weekend. He replaces Ben Bradshaw, who left the […]
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Tories would ‘end monopoly’ of NHS Choices
The Conservative Party would remove NHS Choices from Department of Health control and force it to compete on the same terms as other healthcare information providers. In a document promising An NHS Information Revolution to Save Lives, the party says NHS Choices is failing to get adequate information to managers, clinicians and patients and that […]
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ContactPoint goes live
The government has launched its national children’s database, ContactPoint, which will provide demographic data on every child in the country plus the name and address of any professional working with them. The controversial database has been criticised by civil liberties groups and some children’s campaigners, but backed by other children’s organisations and both the Royal […]
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That was the year that was…
Pre-budget report targets NHS efficiency savings
Billions of pounds of extra efficiency savings are to be required from public sector organisations, including the NHS, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced yesterday. The savings form part of the emergency measures set out in the pre-budget report designed to kick-start the British economy, which is predicted to be heading into a deep recession. Government borrowing will […]
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Healthcare Interoperability: read all about it
Almost 400 delegates attended E-Health Insider’s event in Birmingham at an interesting time for NHS IT. Lyn Whitfield reports.
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NPfIT ‘misconceived’: O’Brien
Shadow health minister Stephen O’Brien has launched a stinging attack on the National Programme for IT in the NHS at Healthcare Interoperability in Birmingham. O’Brien said he had been surprised to see a "flurry" of stories claiming the programme was "grinding to a halt" in this week’s press, since there had been no obvious "hook" […]
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Tories promise NHS information revolution
The Conservative Party has promised an “information revolution” in the NHS with a focus on health outcomes.
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NPfIT ‘pushed the NHS into disarray’ say Lib Dems
The Liberal Democrats have labelled the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) as a waste of money which ‘has pushed the NHS into disarray’. Setting out his vision for the NHS, in policy paper, ‘Empowerment, Fairness and Quality in Healthcare’, Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, says that NPfIT and the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) have […]
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Lord Darzi pledges IT review
A review of England’s NHS IT modernisation programme to ensure it “delivers real clinical benefits” is promised in health minister Lord Darzi’s interim report on the health service published yesterday. Lord Darzi, a practising surgeon who joined the Department of Health’s(DH) ministerial team in Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s new government, says he will be considering […]
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