N3 connections needed say community pharmacists
Lack of access to smartcards and the N3 network by community pharmacists is jeopardising the roll out of the electronic prescribing service (EPS) and important elements of the new pharmacy contract, according to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC). But NHS Connecting for Health has rejected the claim, saying that the EPS is rolling out […]
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NHS domain block causing bounced patient e-mail
E-mails to nhs.uk addresses from patients may be being blocked due to the inclusion of nhs.uk on a site used by some hosting services to stop spam and invalid emails, E-Health Insider has learned. The problem has affected at least one GP practice, East Quay Medical Centre in Bridgwater, Somerset. They have found that e-mails meant for them […]
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Granger says NPfIT in danger of being derailed
The director in charge of the £6.2 billion NHS National Programme for IT has warned that the project is in “grave danger” of being “derailed”, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails. The claim was made by NHS IT director General Richard Granger, in an email to Margaret Edwards, director of access and patient choice, at the […]
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Adapt or perish
Barbara Stuttle, NHS Connecting for Heath’s community nursing lead, speaks to EHI Primary Care about the urgent need for the profession to grapple with IT.
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Choose and Book ‘will be a year late’
The flagship Choose and Book electronic booking application will be at least a year late by the time it is rolled out across England NHS chief executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, said yesterday. Speaking to the House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) he said that patients would still be offered a choice of four or […]
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IT training in core of proposed GP curriculum
Information management and technology should be a core part of the curriculum for training GPs, a blueprint on GP education has recommended. The Royal College of General Practitioners has drawn up a new draft curriculum covering 14 core areas which will come into force from August 2007. The curriculum will lead to the award of […]
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Every PCT to miss Choose and Book target
The Department of Health (DH) has admitted that not a single primary care trust in England is likely to be in a position to meet its next Choose and Book target and is relying on paper solutions to deliver its flagship policy on choice at referral. Just over 6,000 bookings have been made through Choose […]
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Stigma? What stigma?
Jim Thomson, chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, strongly argues for greater regulations on online pharmacies and the sale of prescription-only drugs over the web.
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Doctors.net.uk launches pharma marketing arm
Doctors.net.uk has announced the launch of MedeConnect, a new division that will provide the electronic marketing and market research services for pharma clients on behalf by the online doctor’s portal and email service. MedeConnect will focus entirely on providing services to pharmaceutical customers. Services will include communication with doctors and market research of individual doctor’s […]
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Communication key to cutting missed appointments
A new survey of GP surgeries by health education charity Developing Patient Partnerships and the Institute of Healthcare Management indicates 10 million GP appointments a year being missed as well as around 5 million practice nurse appointments. DPP estimates the cost of missed GP appointments at £180 million per years, based on each appointment […]
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