Shared Financial Services Pilots go Live
The first NHS Financial Shared Services Centre (SSC) went live on 1 April, marking a milestone in the provision of key business support services to NHS organisations using the very latest web-based technology. West Yorkshire SSC, based near Leeds, went "live" with all nine of its first wave Trusts on 1 April 2003. The South […]
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HC 2003 – Pick of the Product and Service News
Healthcare Computing is a traditional launch pad for healthcare IT products and services and the industry did not disappoint this year. We list below a selection of the new launches, versions and deals announced at Harrogate last week. Click here for a full list of exhibitors. Telemedicine Solutions from Tandberg Tandberg demonstrated its videoconferencing solution, […]
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eMatron – the Ultimate Nursing Boss
With no role out of bounds for the IT revolution, a US healthcare technology provider has devised electronic decision support software which effectively replaces Matron. PR Decision Tools Inc. says that the software – nicknamed eMatron by its UK distributors – will be marketed as Nurse Leader Online. The idea is that hard-pressed hospitals will […]
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First Anniversary for National IT Programme
Birthday greetings to the NHS National IT Programme! It’s 12 months since a new centrally-driven plan for transforming the NHS through IT was announced at Healthcare Computing 2002. So what illumination can we expect at this year’s event in Harrogate? Word is that it may well be a lot less than people had hoped. The […]
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IBM and Newchurch to build ICRS demonstrator
A contract has been awarded to IBM and Newchurch to develop a prototype primary care shared clinical information service for West Midlands Strategic Health Authority and South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust (PCT). The project, which will be led by IBM, is thought to be the first demonstrator to receive National IT Programme funding. The West […]
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Gateshead Prescribes Business Intelligence Software
Gateshead Health NHS Trust has begun to use business intelligence software provided by Cognos to help monitor and proactively improve performance, including the key indicators that determine trust’s star ratings. The new analytical software, which went live last month, provides senior management at the trust with a more detailed view of key performance indicators and enhances […]
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Medical Records Found on Memory Stick
An incident in which a Cheshire estate agent found a memory stick she had bought contained confidential clinical records has highlighted the NHS’s failure to implement effective encryption services to protect patient information. Bolton Royal Hospitals NHS Trust has launched an investigation into how confidential medical records for 13 cancer patients were contained on a […]
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Poor IT Systems Contributing to NHS Waiting List Errors
Poor IT systems have been identified by the Audit Commission as a contributory factor leading to errors in waiting list statistics. The finding shows the impact that the NHS’s legacy of IT underinvestment is having on waiting lists – the government’s highest profile target for service improvement. Reports of the commission’s widely publicised bulletin on […]
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Row Over Health Records Review Secrecy
Campaigners this week alleged that the Department of Health (DH) had broken undertakings to keep fees low for patient access to manual health records and had further worsened the situation by conducting a review of health records and data protection in secret. The DH issued a defence against some reports of the row, but conceded […]
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Scottish Waiting List Database Full of Errors
A waiting times database set up by the Scottish NHS to provide patients with faster access to treatment has come under fire for containing serious errors. According to a 23 February report in Scotland on Sunday the new system seriously understates the delay facing some hospital patients. The article says that in one case the […]
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