Security concerns hit Scottish cervical cytology system
The roll-out of a national cervical cytology screening system for Scotland could be delayed after GPs discovered that practice staff would be able to view the test results for all women in Scotland. The gaping hole in the security of the Scottish Cervical Screening Call Recall System has only just emerged, just months ahead of […]
News
Record C+B non-availability, GPC advises
GP negotiators are advising practices to keep a record of when they cannot use Choose and Book in case they need to make a case for retaining incentive payments at the end of the year. The booking element of the choice and booking directed enhanced service (DES) can be reclaimed by primary care trusts if […]
News
GPs and their families urged to boycott NHS ‘spine’
GP representatives are advising GPs and their families to consider withdrawing themselves from the NHS spine “as an example to the nation” because of concerns about the confidentiality of demographic data. Last week’s local medical committees’ conference voted in favour of a proposal to advise GPs to consider withdrawing from the spine after hearing about […]
News
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 […]
News
Trials of ‘summary spine record’ to begin in 2006
Summaries of GP records from a small number of practices are to be loaded onto the NHS spine from August 2006 as part of a new evolutionary ‘pilot’, intended to test the basic concepts around shared summary care records. The strategy, set out in a consultative document published today, indicates a far more gradual approach […]
News
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 […]
News
GP-to-GP transfer pilot project begins
The National Programme for IT has begun pilots of GP-to-GP record transfer between practices running EMIS and InPractice Systems, using dummy records, in three areas of the country. GP-to-GP record transfer, when fully operational, will for the first time enable patient records to be seamlessly electronically transferred from one practice to another when a patient […]
News
Practices to get choice of any LSP primary care system
In a major change of direction all GP practices in England are to get a choice between all the accredited practice systems offered by any of the four local service providers within the NHS National Programme for IT. In a double announcement the Department of Health will today confirm – as first reported by EHI […]
News
UK doctors could sign off American online drug orders
A Canadian online pharmacies’ lobby has announced that many of its members plan on moving their business to the UK if tough legislation planned by the federal Canadian government outlaws co-signing of medication by doctors without the patients being present. David MacKay, head of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA), told the Financial Times that […]
News
Choose and Book leaders answer their critics
Leaders of the Choose and Book programme this week attempted to answer concerns raised by GP representatives about the security and confidentiality of the new system. Medical director of Choose and Book, Professor Michael Thick, told a press conference that information passing through the booking process was treated with higher levels of confidentiality that those […]
News