Lack of leadership at NHS 24 leads to shake up
Lack of leadership and problems with responding to peak demand have been identified as key issues dogging the Scottish healthcare helpline, NHS 24, in an interim review of the troubled service. Vice-chair of Tayside Health Board, George King, has been brought as interim chair to help solve problems outlined in the review and implement a set of recommendations. […]
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Crunch time
How will the general election affect NHS IT? E-Health Insider takes a comprehensive look at what each party has to say about the major e-health issues.
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Emergency care summary set to rollout in Scotland
A project which allows out-of-hours services access to an emergency care summary of patients’ GP records is likely to be rolled out across Scotland. The Emergency Care Summary project has been piloted in two health boards, Ayrshire and Arran and Grampian, since late last year and an evaluation report to be published shortly is expected […]
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National rate NHS phone numbers to be banned by April
The Department of Health has today confirmed that they will prevent GPs, local surgeries and dentists from using national (0870 or 0871) or premium rate lines and they will expect these to be replaced by ‘lo-call’ rate numbers by April, with payments of £500 per practice on offer to cover lost revenue. According to DH […]
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Patients use GePmail for self-monitoring
Patients have begun to use a secure internet link to submit their blood pressure and blood sugar results to GPs in a move which could help practices hit their Quality and Outcomes Framework targets. Almost 500 patients have so far registered for the service provided by GePmail, an electronic clinical messaging system which has been […]
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Record hits for NHS Direct Online over Christmas break
The DH have announced a 30% increase on hits to the NHS Direct website over the Christmas period, the busiest since the website was set up. The NHS Direct site received a total of 19,344 visitors on 27 December, and 42,589 between Christmas Day and Bank Holiday Monday. The most frequently accessed pages included those offering […]
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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 […]
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Open Source: PCTs Must Continue to Offer Choice of Systems
In the new slot for opinion and comment Dr Nilesh Jain of Torex Health takes up the question of GPs retaining choice over their IT now that PCTs pay for the systems. The new General Medical Services contract will lead to a revolutionary change in primary care computing. Effective IT is needed to underpin the […]
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New Forum to Support Interoperability Standards
A new Health Care Interoperability Forum (HCIF) has been set up to actively support the design of interoperability standards covering over 90 data flows which occur in the patient’s journey through the UK health system. The forum says its members are drawn from all the leading GP, out of hours and NHS Direct system suppliers […]
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Medical Records Found on Memory Stick
An incident in which a Cheshire estate agent found a memory stick she had bought contained confidential clinical records has highlighted the NHS’s failure to implement effective encryption services to protect patient information. Bolton Royal Hospitals NHS Trust has launched an investigation into how confidential medical records for 13 cancer patients were contained on a […]
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