Over 150 data losses uncovered in Wales
Fourteen computers have been stolen from NHS trusts in Wales in the last three years, a Freedom of Information request has found. According to BBC Wales, six NHS trusts have collectively experienced more than 150 incidents of confidential data being lost or stolen from hospital grounds. Data losses occurred in a variety of ways. In […]
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Six years since Blair seminar began NPfIT
Six years ago this week Tony Blair chaired a No 10 Seminar on NHS IT, that paved the way to the £12.4bn NHS IT programme.
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Privacy fear over NHS card loss
Thousands of NHS computer ‘smartcards’ used to give access to confidential patient records have gone missing.
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OGC accused of shredding Gateway review reports
The Office of Government Commerce has reportedly ordered civil servants to destroy copies of Gateway review reports into government computer upgrades, to prevent information on delayed projects being leaked or disclosed under Freedom of Information legislation. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway Process examines government programmes and projects at key decision points in their […]
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Report warns of embarrassment over NHSu’s £72m
A report on the now-defunct online NHS university (NHSu) says that the £72m spent on the project would have exposed the Department of Health (DH) to ‘significant embarrassment’ if the value-for-money it delivered had been probed. The report has been released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, but so far no electronic copy has appeared on the Department […]
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FOI victory on report that led to axing of NHSu
Nurse educator and health informatician, Rod Ward, has won the right under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to see a report on the NHSu, the health service’s short-lived, online university that was dissolved in 2005. The Department of Health (DH) has withdrawn an appeal against the release of the report which was due to […]
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Loophole could force release of deceased’s records
A loophole in the Data Protection Act means GPs could be forced to disclose the records of deceased patients, GP representatives are warning. The British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee reported after its monthly meeting last week that there are problems with how the Data Protection Act applies to deceased patients which means their records […]
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BMA issues FOI guidelines for GPs
The BMA has issued new guidance to General Practitioners on the Freedom of Information Act advising them to be open about data from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF), introduced under the new GMS contract. Issued by the BMA’s GP Committee says the guidance states that withholding QoF data "could be seen as detrimental to […]
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NHS coping with FOI so far
A new survey indicates that most NHS organisations have so far only received a limited number of Freedom of Information requests and have coped with them reasonably well. The survey of 66 NHS organisations reveals that all but a handful were dealing with information requests within the statutory 20-day limit. The organisations that took part […]
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Shedding light
E-Health Insider looks at documents released by NPfIT under FOI and describes how you can also make a request.
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