Data quality vital to electronic transfer of prescriptions
Keighley, the first pilot site for electronic transfer of prescriptions (ETP), has found that before new national systems can be used, staff must first fully reconcile any discrepancies between patient details from the local practice system and the patient demographic details held on the NHS Spine. Being first to implement ETP meant Keighley had to […]
News
Computer generated brain surgery to help trainees
Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed a virtual reality brain surgery simulator for trainee surgeons that combines haptics with three-dimensional graphics to give what they claim is the most realistic model in the world. A ‘map’ of the brain surface (below) is produced by the software, which also renders the tweezers (on the […]
News
New A&E system for Nottingham
Queen’s Medical Centre, part of University Hospital, Nottingham NHS Trust, has procured and implemented a new A&E system to track patients through the busy casualty department marking an important step towards the hospital’s goal of becoming paperless. The A&E system was supplied by Australian firm HASS, an iSOFT company, and is a system already in […]
News
GP systems need to improve safety features, says NPSA
The safety features of computing systems currently in use in about three quarters of UK general practices have clinically important deficiencies, according to research funded by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). Researchers writing in the British Medical Journal say that all four of the systems tested may fail to signal a warning when a GP user might […]
News
Healthcare IT awards finalists announced
IT applications in a wide variety of healthcare settings are represented by seven finalists for the 2004 Healthcare IT Effectiveness Awards announced this week. The finalists, drawn from around the country will compete for four awards covering: best use of IT in secondary and tertiary care; best use of IT in primary and community care; […]
News
E-prescribing Arrives for Out-of-Hours GPs
A major step towards electronic prescribing for out-of-hours (OOH) doctors in England has been taken with the launch of new software supporting online prescribing by Adastra Software Ltd. Adastra, the provider of GP out-of-hours software to 80% of GP co-operatives, has incorporated e-prescribing tools into version three of its ‘OnLine Clinician’ software. Stockport and Nottingham […]
News
Granger says Failure will be Penalised
NHS IT Director General Richard Granger this week raised the ante for would-be suppliers to the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS, making clear that penalty clauses would be invoked and damages sought from suppliers that fail to deliver. Speaking at Kable’s Government Computing conference in London on 12 June, Mr Granger stressed […]
News
The 12 Days of Christmas IT
Thanks to everyone who entered our Christmas wish list competition. Phil Graham, head of information management and technology at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust, is a worthy winner with his variation on the 12 Days of Christmas that is bound to strike a chord with many readers. His prize is a bottle of […]
News
UK Nursing Portal Reaches Milestone
NMAP – The UK’s gateway to high quality Internet resources in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health – has announced that it has served over one million pages of information since its launch in April 2001. By the end of January the figure had actually reached: 1,090,949. Over 1100 records are now included in the database, each […]
News