NPfIT failures have left NHS IT “stuck”
A new report by the NHS Confederation has criticised NHS technology for being similar to the “pre-industrial handicraft industry”.
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Many blocks on the road to revolution
Responses to the Information Revolution consultation have registered support for its vision of putting information at the heart of the NHS but raised concerns about the practical details and cost.
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NHS faces ‘defining year’
The NHS is facing a ‘defining year’ in which it may need to make even bigger efficiency savings than so-far planned to avoid rationing as it embarks on its latest round of reorganisation.
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Call centres urged for GP appointments
GP appointment booking could be centralised in future with national or regional call centres used instead of local practice lines, a report commissioned by the Department of Health recommends.
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‘Save expertise’: NHS Confederation
Urgent action is needed to retain good staff working for primary care trusts and to preserve organisational memory as the latest set of NHS reforms are worked through, the NHS Confederation has told the government.
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Treasury frets about GP commissioning
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has admitted that the Treasury is concerned abut the government’s plans to hand secondary care commissioning to GPs. Responding to a question at the end of the NHS Confederation’s annual conference in Loverpool, Sir David said he was also acutely aware of the need to keep financial control in the NHS […]
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Lansley: ‘NHS not protected from change’
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has warned the NHS it cannot expect the funding increases it has enjoyed in the recent past and it will not be protected from change.
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NHS ordered to halve management costs
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has scrapped some key NHS performance targets and told the health service it must save at least £222m in management costs this year.
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Improve PCT data skills, say MPs
Poor quality data analysis skills have played a key part in the failure of many primary care trusts to work effectively as commissioners, MPs have concluded. A report into commissioning by the Commons’ Health Committee says that while there are some examples of good work from PCTs, many believe they are working effectively “although the evidence […]
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Keogh to lead work on new stats for NHS
The government has set up a working group to develop a single hospital standardised mortality ratio for the NHS in response to the latest report on the scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
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