Ofcom

111 becomes number for NHS services

UK Telecoms watchdog OFCOM has given the go-ahead for 111 to become the new three digit number for accessing non-emergency healthcare 24-hours a day.


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Going live

1,300 people, 80 exhibitors, four conference streams, the sheep key-rings, the chocolate fountain. EHI reports on E-Health Insider Live ’09.


Feature

Ofcom launches 111 consultation

Ofcom has launched a consultation on the use of a national 111 non-emergency number for healthcare. Following the consultation, the Department of Health plans to pilot the new number and to roll the service out across England. Ofcom, the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, will run the consultation from today, looking at use […]


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Ofcom forecasts growth in healthcare IT

Media regulator Ofcom has picked healthcare as a key sector for the widespread deployment of information technology in its latest report on trends. Tomorrow’s Wireless World, the third annual report from its technology research programme, says “breakthroughs leading to fundamental shifts in the underlying science” of ICTs are rare, and there is unlikely to be […]


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Patientline hits trouble as losses grow

Patientline, the hospital entertainment and phone provider, has announced that it is in urgent talks with its banks to renegotiate its debt payments so that it can invest in new technology and cut the prices it charges. The company has posted growing full-year losses together with reduced revenues. Half-year revenues shrunk from £25.1m in 2006, […]


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Hospital mobile phone blanket bans criticised

Both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Parliament’s Health Select Committee have said that there are no technical reasons why mobile phones should be banned outright from hospitals. The MHRA, the government agency responsible for medical safety, issued a release after continuing enquiries from the public, patients and staff about the status of […]


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Patientline blames losses on ward closures

Patientline has announced yearly losses of £24.7m before tax, which the company has blamed on ward closures and the recent Ofcom investigation into its charging structure. Geoff White, the recently-appointed chairman of Patientline, said: "The group has been through a very challenging period, involving not only difficult trading conditions but also an investigation by Ofcom […]


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Patient surveys launched into hospital call costs

  A national campaign to discover the views of patients and visitors hospital bedside television and telephone services has been launched by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health. The campaign, which is being undertaken by Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums across England, will for the first time give consumers of these […]


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NHS trusts urged to rethink mobile policies

NHS trusts are being urged to rethink their policies on mobile phone use, due to public concerns over the high cost of bedside telephone services, such as those provided by Patientline and Premier The call comes from Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums, which argues that patients and the public should be offered the choice […]


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