Patient and clinical advisory boards to be replaced
A new Care Record Development Board (CRDB) is to be created to help ensure NHS IT helps deliver better patient care. The new body will replace the National Programme for IT’s Patient Advisory Board (PAB) and National Clinical Advisory Board (NCAB). The CRDB will be chaired by Harry Clayton the Department of Health’s director for […]
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Combative Granger defends speed of IT reform
Richard Granger, Director General of NHS IT, has hit back at critics of his approach to implementing the national programme, saying that patient safety and the fast pace of technology continue to be the main drivers for driving change. Speaking yesterday at the Government Computing Exhibition and Conference 2004, Earls Court, Granger emphasised the benefits […]
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NPSA introduces intelligent incident analysis system
The National Patient Safety Agency has awarded the contract for its new analysis and content management to the Cambridge-based software company, Autonomy. The software, also called Autonomy, is integrated into the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). It uses an ‘intelligent data operating layer’ to filter different kinds of media such as text, audio and video […]
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Report challenges hospital mobile ban
A new report on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) in healthcare facilities challenges the wisdom of blanket prohibitions on mobile phones and other wireless devices in hospitals, writes Neil Versel from the annual Toward an Electronic Patient Record (TEPR) conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to a white paper issued by the US-based Mobile […]
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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 […]
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University Hospital Aintree wins pharmacy IT award
The pharmacy department at University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool has won the 2004 First DataBank Guild of Healthcare Pharmacist Information Technology Award for its effective electronic transfer of discharge prescriptions pilot. The University Hospital Aintree pharmacy department was chosen for its development of a system to transfer patient discharge information securely and quickly between the hospital […]
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Hutton resigns as chair of clinical advisory board
Professor Peter Hutton has resigned his position as chair of the National Clinical Advisory Board of the National Programme for IT (NCAB), the key body for ensuring clinician involvement in the development of the NHS IT modernisation project. In a 21 April email to members of NCAB Professor Hutton said: “…I have offered my resignation […]
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US health IT leaders to rule on key standards
Health IT thought leaders in the US have taken a significant step toward advancing electronic connectivity and are on the verge of another, Neil Versel reports from Chicago. Last week, the healthcare informatics committee of standards-setting organisation ASTM International approved a minimum set of patient data to ensure continuity when patients move between care settings. […]
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Statutory registration in prospect for health informatics
Statutory registration of healthcare informatics staff in four years is the target for a new voluntary regulator launched this week. Meanwhile the UK Council of Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP) intends to build its register and encourage employers to ask for registered staff when they advertise jobs and draw up job descriptions. UKCHIP president, Dr Glyn Hayes, […]
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FDBE aims to cut drug dosing errors
First DataBank Europe (FDBE) has announced that it is working with the National Patient Safety Agency on a project to improve the safety of patients on drugs requiring unusual dosage regimes. The NPSA, established as a Special Health Authority in July 2001, aims to improve the safety of patients taking oral methotrexate by incorporating new, […]
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