Minister announces new telecare guidance on way
The government is to issue new guidance for social care commissioners to help make telecare more mainstream, it was revealed today. Speaking at the Laing and Buisson Telecare and Assistive Technology conference in London, the parliamentary under secretary for care services, Ivan Lewis, announced that new guidance on telecare was to be issues to […]
News
Reports highlight telecare’s popularity
Research studies on the two biggest telecare projects in the UK have highlighted the popularity of the technology among users. One of the reports, Piloting Telecare in Kent County Council: The Key Lessons, focuses on use of telecare in Kent where 550 people are currently piloting a range of telecare interventions. The other study, Smart […]
News
Rewiring Long Term Care
As major work starts on ‘demonstrators’ for e-enabled long term care, Colin Jervis analyses the challenge.
Feature
Opt-out consent model to be kept for SCR
The government is to stick to its plan that patients must opt-out of the NHS Care Records Service (NCRS), although some patients will now get the chance to view their record online before information is uploaded for sharing. The decision appears to have won the backing of the British Medical Association and the Royal College […]
News
Telecare deal for 500 packages in Cumbria
Five hundred homes across Cumbria are to receive telecare packages following a contract award to suppliers, Tunstall, by the local county council. The move follows a successful pilot scheme earlier this year and will be funded using some of the £860,000 Preventative Technology Grant (PTG), allocated to the council by the Department of Health. Cumbria County […]
News
Information Centre to centralise social care records
The Information Centre is working towards producing a new information system for adult social care records, called the Adult Social Care Information Development Programme (ASCID). The aim of the programme is to make patient records of elderly patients more person-centred and flexible. The Information Centre is carrying out a major review of social care information […]
News
Large scale telecare pilot details published
The Department of Health has identified its target groups and released more information for prospective participants about its telecare pilot covering one million people. The DH says it wants the Whole System Long Term Conditions Demonstrator Programme to focus on two groups of patients – the frail elderly with complex health and social care needs […]
News
Patients cannot remember C+B referral options
A total of 80% of patients in Selby and York Primary Care Trust claimed they were not offered a choice of hospital on referral when the Department of Health questioned them for Choose and Book. The results of the survey on 649 patients will reinforce concerns from GPs that patients will fail to recall being […]
News
Tower Hamlets goes live with e-SAP
Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust has become the first London trust to implement new electronic Single Assessment Process (e-SAP) software, allowing its NHS and social services staff to share care records electronically. e-SAP is NHS Connecting for Health’s project for joint electronic health and social care assessment and care planning for individuals. In the future […]
News
Road to repair
On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, US correspondent Neil Versel reports from Louisiana on the use of EHRs in rebuilding healthcare facilities.
Feature