Nurses ‘losing enthusiasm’ for NHS IT reform
The number of nurses across the UK who believe in the benefits of IT reform in the NHS is falling, says the latest Nursix survey published by the Royal College of Nursing. Around 56% of nurses now say that IT reform is likely to improve clinical care and 49% agree that it will improve their […]
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NI to link barcodes on prescriptions to EPRs
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland has announced it has signed a £6.8m contract with Hewlett Packard to provide it with bar-coded prescriptions in an effort to counter fraud. The new Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES) will be rolled out over the next two years. Paper prescriptions will […]
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Contract success for Ascribe
Health IT software company Ascribe has announced it has been awarded several new contracts in its pharmacy and primary and unscheduled care divisions, including one for a ‘super surgery’ planned for Liverpool this summer. Ascribe will be supplying a bespoke web-based healthcare IT system featuring both clinical and administrative features to Assura, a subsidiary of […]
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Junior doctor placement website crashing, BMA warns
The BMA have expressed concern that medical students applying online for their first jobs as junior doctors have been unable to find out where they are placed because the results website was too busy. The Multi-Deanery Appointment Process (MDAP) at www.newdoctor.org was recently set up to match students with junior doctor posts across the UK through […]
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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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Framework agreement for NHS videoconferencing
Videoconferencing specialists, Questmark, have been awarded a three-year framework agreement by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency for the supply of systems and services. The agreement covers all countries in the UK and applies to any part of the NHS including trusts, GP surgeries and the Medical Research Council, together with other public sector organisations […]
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Nurses need better access to IT, says RCN survey
A survey of nurses, midwives and health visitors undertaken by the Royal College of Nursing has shown that not enough nursing staff have access to information, computer training and the internet when they need to at work. Although 15% of nurses said they had no access to computers and 17% said they had no access […]
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Northern Ireland unveils plans for electronic records
Northern Ireland has announced plans to develop its own electronic care record in a move which has led to calls for a UK-wide IT programme. The ten year plan for health and social services information technology in Northern Ireland was announced by Angela Smith, Northern Ireland health minister. Costs for implementing the strategy are estimated […]
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Survey exposes unsafe security practice
Measures taken by doctors to safeguard confidentiality, especially electronic records, are severely deficient and fuel the concerns of those trusted to police data security, say the authors of a letter to the British Medical Journal. The signatories to the letter draw their conclusions from a survey of 32 surgical trainees invited to complete a questionnaire […]
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Hospital clerk jailed for culling patient data
A hospital worker from Northern Ireland who collected information from the patient records of politicians, senior military and police personnel, prison officers, members policing boards and loyalists was jailed for six years earlier this month. Belfast Crown Court Judge Mr Justice Higgins told Ciaran James Cunningham that it was “difficult to think of a more […]
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