Digital TV Service Goes To Tender
A national healthcare digital television (DTV) service took a step nearer to becoming a reality this week with the issue of an advertisement inviting expressions of interest from suitable suppliers. The advertisement published in the press and as an OJEC notice sets a deadline of 22 May for submissions. The tender document accompanying the invitation […]
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HC 2003 – Pick of the Product and Service News
Healthcare Computing is a traditional launch pad for healthcare IT products and services and the industry did not disappoint this year. We list below a selection of the new launches, versions and deals announced at Harrogate last week. Click here for a full list of exhibitors. Telemedicine Solutions from Tandberg Tandberg demonstrated its videoconferencing solution, […]
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Microsoft and MSN Launch Public Services Channel
Microsoft Ltd and MSN have announced the launch of the online Public Services Channel offering access to online government and healthcare services for its monthly 11.2 million users. The new online channel, which went live on December 7, can be accessed through the MSN home page http://www.msn.co.uk and provides online access to health information and details […]
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Questions in the House About DG Role
Mark Todd, Labour MP and a former IT director, has told E-Health Insider that he believes the current management structure for the National Programme for IT in the NHS "appears rather cloudy" and "is not the optimum arrangement". He says greater clarity over lines of accountability and leadership may be needed. The former head of […]
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NHS 24 Roll-Out Reaches Aberdeen
Malcolm Chisholm, Scotland’s health minister, has confirmed that the roll-out of the NHS 24 , the Scottish version of the English flagship patient helpline NHS Direct, will proceed across Scotland – despite reported teething problems with the pilot project in the North-east. Mr Chisholm made the comments at the launch of the second NHS 24 […]
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Couch Potatoes Called to Account
Researchers have reported that nagging overweight patients with an automated phone call system, encouraging them to eat less and take more exercise, can have a positive effect. A project by the Centre for the Advancement of Health in Washington DC, involved almost 300 people with sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets. The study found that instead […]
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NHS Direct Needs Greater Focus
A new Public Accounts Committee report on the NHS Direct telephone information service says that callers are currently waiting too long to speak to a nurse, with many patients having to wait up over 20 minutes. The report also says that the service needs to improve response times and review productivity at individual sites to […]
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DH Preparing £5 Billion IT Strategy
This week E-Health Insider provides an advance preview of the yet to be released, yet to be approved, draft implementation strategy, "Delivering 21st Century IT Support for the NHS". Two months ago Sir John Pattison announced at Harrogate that a new national strategy for NHS IT, based on common standards, new investment and a new […]
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Lord Hunt – “We Will Meet EPR targets”
Lord Hunt, the health minister with responsibility for IT, has underlined his determination that the NHS will achieve its targets on electronic records and spoken of the damage caused by the previous government’s “awful failures” in technology. Speaking to the British Journal of Health Care Management Lord Hunt said, “We will get there and I […]
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Expanded Role for NHS Direct
Supporting people with chronic conditions, supporting ambulance services and reducing waiting times in A&E will be part of the expanded role for NHS Direct, health secretary Alan Milburn has announced. At a speech in Newcastle to mark the service’s fourth anniversary, Mr Milburn said, "NHS Direct shows that putting in the resources delivers real results […]
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