New NHS information sources unveiled
Two new NHS websites designed to improve information for patients have been unveiled. NHS Choices, to be launched this summer, will offer general information with the aim of making “authoritative and high quality information very much simpler for patients, the public and health professionals to use.” A much more specific internet service offering information about […]
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Two years on
It’s two years since the Information Centre for health and social care started work on its mission of “providing knowledge for care”. Linda Davidson catches up with its chief executive, Denise Lievesley.
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NHS Direct Wales launch new website
NHS Direct Wales have launched a new website, after research indicated that two-thirds of the country use the internet for health information. The new website, www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk, was launched last Thursday to give patients and public more information to make decisions about their own health and care. It was developed by the information service in partnership […]
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NAO criticises £12m Dr Foster Intelligence deal
The National Audit Office has criticised the Information Centre for striking a £12m deal without going out to tender to create Dr Foster Intelligence – a joint venture designed to provide healthcare information. The NAO said: “The Department of Health and the Information Centre (IC) could not demonstrate to the National Audit Office’s satisfaction that they had achieved […]
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IC deal with Dr Foster under NAO scrutiny
The controversial deal to form a joint venture between the Health and Social Care Information Centre and a private company Dr Foster LLP is to come under scrutiny from Parliament’s value-for-money watchdog, the National Audit Office(NAO). The NAO says its study will focus on the question: “Does the investment by the Health and Social Care […]
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Health informaticians “embattled”, claims ASSIST
A survey by the Association for Informatics Professionals in Health and Social Care (ASSIST) has claimed that those working in health informatics suffer from low morale and feel they have been let down by Agenda for Change. Evaluation of healthcare informatics posts is inconsistent and pay uncompetitive, says ASSIST, and the formal establishment of healthcare […]
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Ambulance trusts join map data sharing deal
Ambulance trusts in England will now have the opportunity to share geographical data with other trusts as part of a deal between the Health and Social Care Information Centre and Ordnance Survey. The Ordnance Survey has announced that 31 ambulance trusts will now be able to join the agreement, signed in November 2005. They will […]
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Birmingham HSCIC staff protest at relocation
Unhappy staff caught up the relocation needed to establish the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre have protested that the decision to centralise operations in Leeds is proving to be “nothing more than a very expensive exercise in demoralising and alienating” them. A letter sent in December by staff based in the HSCIC’s Birmingham offices and leaked […]
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Public-private venture ‘to improve access’ to info
Dr Foster, a commercial provider of healthcare information, and the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre have formed a new public-private partnership with the aim of improving public access to information. Dr Foster Intelligence is the name chosen for the new venture which, the partners say, will combine commercial acumen from the private sector […]
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Digital geographic information deal puts NHS on the map
More than 600 NHS organisations in England are to gain direct access to the Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital geographic information under a new pilot agreement with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). Geographic information can be used to help health managers identify health inequalities, record changes to patient catchment areas, carry out […]
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