GP representatives consider Choose and Book boycott
A boycott of Choose and Book and non co-operation with the National Programme for IT are among the sanctions to be considered by GP representatives this week in response to the profession’s 0% pay rise. The threat to continuing use of the Choose and Book system comes as GPs’ incentive scheme for e-booking is due […]
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Patients to rate care received using new NHS website
The government is to set up a new website to allow patients to publish and share reviews of care recived from GPs and hospitals. Patients will be able to post detailed reviews of their experiences in their GP surgery or of their hospital appointments, in a similar style to restaurant reviews. The aim of the website is […]
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DH rejects patient opt-out requests
The Department of Health has rejected patients’ requests to stop their information being uploaded to the NHS data spine. On Friday the DH wrote to patients who had sent in a coupon from the Guardian newspaper requesting to opt-out telling them that would not be able to do. The eight page letter from the DH […]
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Too many problems with C+B, says Meldrum
Too many delays and problems have undermined the Choose and Book scheme, according to the leader of the UK’s GPs. Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee, told the national local medical committees’ conference that while the Choose and Book scheme “might be acceptable in principle” it had been the […]
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Senior GPs say CfH response on security ‘encouraging’
The two senior GP representatives in the UK are writing to GP practices to outline “the encouraging response” they have received from Connecting for Health (CfH) over concerns about security issues with the personal demographic service (PDS). The letter from Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee and Dr Mayur Lakhani, […]
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QoF scores likely to continue to rise
Practices will have achieved even higher scores from the Quality and Outcomes Framework in the last 12 months than in the first year of the new contract, according to GP representatives. Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee (GPC), said that although national figures have yet to be published it […]
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GP contract IM&T incentives announced
GPs are to be offered incentives worth up to £70m in total across England to embrace NHS information and management technology changes. There will also be extra money to implement choice and booking. The proposed changes to the national GPs’ contract, which are due to take effect from 1 April 2006, were published today. The investment […]
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QoF results publication reveals quality of care
Practice by practice results for the Quality and Outcome Framework for England are being published today although technical problems have delayed the display of information. The results show that the average score for practices in England last year was 958.7 out of a possible 1050. The maximum score of 1,050 points was achieved by 222 practices […]
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Release QoF data if asked, BMA advises
GPs are being advised to release Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) data before national figures are published if their practices are asked to do so under the Freedom of Information Act. The British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee (GPC) has released new guidance (www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/freedomfaqs) about the Freedom of Information which advises practices to be open […]
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BMA queries commissioning and e-booking link
The BMA has criticised technical guidance from the Department of Health (DH) which it says explicitly links the uptake of the Choose and Book, the national electronic booking service, to the new system of practice based commissioning. The association says: “The technical guidance explicitly links the controversial Choose and Book electronic referral system with practice […]
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