Bradshaw reveals NPfIT contract reset values
BT will now be paid £1 billion to deliver the NHS data spine, following a contract re-set earlier this year. Health minister Ben Bradshaw revealed the new figure in a commons written answer, published at the start of the month. The spine contract was originally worth £620m. However, Mr Bradshaw insisted that the increased cost […]
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DH backs away from 084 telephone ban
The Department of Health has no immediate plans to ban use of 084 numbers in the NHS, health minister Ben Bradshaw has indicated. In a letter to Rob Marris MP, the health minister gave no indication that the use of such numbers by GP practices and organisations such as NHS Direct would be prohibited. Instead […]
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iSoft wins Spanish contract extensions
Healthcare authorities in the Andalusian and Balearic Island regions of Spain have awarded iSoft contract extensions worth a total of €1.35m. The Andalusian healthcare services (SAS) has renewed its contract for maintenance at 16 hospitals for another year in a deal worth €750,000. The extension of the SAS contract is said to be for the […]
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Half of Scottish prescriptions sent electronically
Over half of all NHS prescriptions issued in Scotland are now sent electronically, latest figures show. Since the start of electronic transfer of prescriptions (ETP) in Scotland in January 2008, 7.72 million prescriptions have been sent electronically. In July this figure reached 1.955 million — more than 50% of all the prescriptions issued. ETP is […]
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The Adventurous 4.0
In the latest column from NHS Connecting for Health, Choose and Book’s national medical director, Dr Stephen Miller, outlines the latest developments to the online booking system.
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NHS Direct says it has no 0845 plans
NHS Direct has said it has no plans to switch its premium rate 0845 telephone number to a standard rate 0345 number that has been reserved for its use. Last week BT Wholesale published a briefing note on its website stating that the 0345 4647 number would “eventually replace the NHS Direct number 0845 4647” […]
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GP practices urged to complete GPSoC deals
GP practices in England that have signed up for the GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) initiative are being encouraged to sign their PCT-practice agreement as soon as possible. Connecting for Health (CfH) and the BMA’s General Practitioner Committee (GPC) have issued joint guidance on the agreement which was originally expected to be signed by all […]
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NHS Choices selects Capita as preferred bidder
Capita has been announced as the preferred bidder to deliver NHS Choices for the next three years.
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NHS Choices £80m contract award imminent
The Department of Health is this week expected to announce the winner of the three-year, £80m contract to run NHS Choices, the patient portal for health service. Gordon Hextall, acting head of NHS Connecting for Health, said at a news conference last Thursday, 10 July, that an announcement of the NHS Choices contract was “due […]
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Data accreditation completed for 800 practices
Just over 800 GP practices have now had their data accredited as part of the directed enhanced service for IM&T. Data accreditation in preparation for uploading summary records to the spine is one of four elements in the DES which was extended for 12 months to March 2009 as part of this year’s GP contract […]
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