GPs advised to negotiate on IT service level agreements
A GP national user group has advised its members to negotiate over the service level agreements included in the primary care trust-practice agreement for GP Systems of Choice. Dr Charlie Stuart-Buttle, chairman of the EMIS National User Group, told its annual conference last week to sign the PCT-practice agreement – but to negotiate over SLAs. […]
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CfH plans to extend practice IT support hours
NHS Connecting for Health has announced plans to extend the support hours provided by GP IT suppliers to cover extended hours opening by GP practices. The IT agency is currently consulting with suppliers about extending the opening hours of IT support desks at both ends of the day. Currently the GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) […]
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GP practices urged to complete GPSoC deals
GP practices in England that have signed up for the GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) initiative are being encouraged to sign their PCT-practice agreement as soon as possible. Connecting for Health (CfH) and the BMA’s General Practitioner Committee (GPC) have issued joint guidance on the agreement which was originally expected to be signed by all […]
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GPs shape the future of health IT
In the latest column from NHS Connecting for Health, Peter Short, one of the agency’s national clinical leads for GPs, discusses some key issues for the profession.
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CfH awards encryption contracts to three suppliers
Three GP system suppliers have signed a deal with Connecting for Health (CfH) to supply back up tape encryption services that meet the Department of Health’s new data security requirements. INPS, iSoft and Healthy Software have agreed details of their encryption services with CfH and PCTs can now order the services using the GP Systems […]
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Primary care following Fujitsu
Following the exit of Fujitsu from the NHS IT programme in the South of England, Fiona Barr explores what the implications are for primary care.
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Seetec withdraws from GPSoC
Seetec has announced it is to withdraw from the GP Systems of Choice programme, effective from 30 November, and quit the primary care market. The company said it made the difficult decision following a decline in demand for its primary care system, GP Enterprise. Seetec has been a supplier to the NHS primary care market […]
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No GP systems in Fujitsu’s NHS contract
Fujitsu, local service provider for the Southern Programme for IT, is not yet contracted to supply a GP system but £105.9m is to be spent to include such a requirement, the latest National Audit Office report reveals. The NAO investigation into the national NHS IT programme found that the project was running at least four […]
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Six thousand practices switch to Systems of Choice
A total of 94% of eligible practices had switched to a GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) contract by the deadline of 31 March, according to Connecting for Health (CfH). The DH IT agency said over 6,000 practices were included in a call-off agreement which will mean funding for their clinical system will, as of 1 […]
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Most GP systems will require security upgrades
The majority of GP clinical IT systems will not meet the Department of Health’s new data security requirements for transfer and storage of patient data and PCTs will need to fund the costs of extra encryption, according to Connecting for Health. CfH’s programme director for GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC), Kemi Adenubi, has written to […]
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