SHA overwhelmed by public response to EHR consent
A senior member of a strategic health authority with a new interim electronic record system has told delegates at the Healthcare Computing 2006 conference that there was such an enormous public response to a mailshot detailing their rights to opt-out that they had to take on extra staff. Anne Reed, clinical data repository manager at […]
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NHS 24 cuts numbers of ‘call-backs’
Scotland’s health advice helpline NHS 24 has reduced the percentage of ‘call-backs’ to patients to less than 20% from a high of more than 50%, tackling a key area identified by an independent review of the service last year. The health advice and information service says figures for January show that ‘call backs’ to patients, […]
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Graphnet says 45 PCTs now using Xtract
Graphnet Health has announced that 45 primary care trusts in England are in the process of implementing its data extraction software, Xtract. The software is designed to enable clinical data from GP systems to be accurately and securely extracted and then, subject to local data sharing agreements, used by other health professionals within a local […]
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NHS Direct proposes online social care wiki
NHS Direct could soon be setting up an online social care ‘wiki’ that would allow patients to learn from one another about coping with illness and where to obtain support and services. The idea, part of a submission made to the Department of Health’s consultation into its out of hospital care White Paper and announced […]
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NHS 24 report calls for radical review of helpline
A radical review of Scotland’s health helpline NHS 24 has recommended using the new volume predictive technology to ensure the best possible match of supply to demand as one of a raft of measures to improve the troubled service. The report – which is highly critical of NHS 24’s board – also says that more […]
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PCT safety culture needed to prevent errors
A lack of understanding about IT systems and a failure to establish a safety culture are to blame for the publication of confidential information about 92 patients by a primary care trust, according to an investigation into the error. Melton, Rutland and Harborough PCT accidentally included identifiable information on 92 patients in its board papers […]
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Trials of ‘summary spine record’ to begin in 2006
Summaries of GP records from a small number of practices are to be loaded onto the NHS spine from August 2006 as part of a new evolutionary ‘pilot’, intended to test the basic concepts around shared summary care records. The strategy, set out in a consultative document published today, indicates a far more gradual approach […]
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PCT’s e-mail error leaks patient details
A full investigation is underway into an e-mail error that led to confidential information about 92 patients being distributed from a primary care trust to 35 local organisations. The details were circulated accidentally by Melton, Rutland and Harborough PCT in the East Midlands to organisations that routinely receive information about trust board meetings. These include […]
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NHS 24 buys knowledge management system
Information and knowledge management consultancy LSC Group is to provide a knowledge management system including geographic information system for NHS 24, the nurse-led telephone advice, assessment and referral service for Scotland. Using the new GIS system NHS 24 staff will be able to better direct staff to the most appropriate location for care and treatment. […]
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NHS Direct may lack capacity to handle OOH calls
NHS Direct may have insufficient capacity to manage out of hours (OOH) care in the integrated fashion envisaged by the government, researchers have concluded. In 2000, a review of OOH care recommended integrating calls made to general practitioners outside surgery hours with NHS Direct. The idea was that patients’ calls would be routed directly to […]
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