European public health portal launched
A multi-lingual pan-European Public Health Portal has been launched that will provide a gateway to simple and reliable health information on topics ranging from bio-terrorism to babies’ health, and infectious diseases to health insurance. The portal was launched last week at the EU eHealth conference in Malaga, Spain. Initially available in English only, the portal […]
News
Companies gear up for interoperability marathon
Two hundred and fifty representatives of seventy healthcare IT companies will gather in Barcelona next week for the 6th annual European “Connectathon” – a week-long event devoted to the quest for interoperability. As its name suggests, the meeting is a ‘connectivity marathon’ where companies will take advantage of the opportunity to test their products in what […]
News
PHCSG urges ‘extreme caution’ on QoF data use
White paper proposals to use Quality and Outcomes Framework data to make commissioning decisions should only be followed with extreme caution, the Primary Health Care Specialist Group (PHCSG) of the British Computer Society has warned. The PHCSG says the QoF database held on the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS) has been collected purely for […]
News
Dr Foster offers data on repeat admissions
Medical data firm Dr Foster intelligence is offering PCTs a web-based tool that can identify patients and conditions with high admissions to hospital, allowing, says the company, better planning for future provision of services. The High-impact User Manager (HUM), launched last month, is designed to calculate costs of the admissions and predicts risk of future […]
News
MHRA implements adverse drug reaction software
The government’s medicines safety agency has implemented new software to improve management of adverse drug reaction (ADR) data reported by GPs and patients and to flag up and prioritise potential medicine safety issues. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) began last week to use new software from Lincoln Technologies to analyse data from […]
News
PCT reorganisation unsettles IT community
The NHS IT community has echoed the House of Commons health select committee’s criticism of the government’s latest reorganisation of PCTs, expressing unease about the future roles of IT departments within the new order. The health committee slammed the government policy, Commissioning the Patient Led NHS, which will see the number of PCTs and strategic health authorities drastically […]
News
Training on the go
Dr Neil Bacon, founder of Doctors.net.uk, on the benefits of online training and how a programme funded by the HPA helped GPs on his site prepare for major incidents.
Feature
Whole NHS budget under the microscope
Reports today suggest that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) will be included in a review of all health budgets to ensure that every aspect of central spending is giving value for money. There are assurances, however, that existing commitments will be honoured. The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, confirmed the review during an interview on […]
News
Scottish pharmacists receive extra IT funding
Pharmacists in Scotland are to receive £500 in the latest round of IT funding to prepare for the launch of their new contract in April 2006. The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) has announced that every pharmacy contractor will receive £500 towards the cost of installing software to run an electronic minor ailment service. It will […]
News
Txts 2 help U quit
Text messages, e-mail and telephone support are to be made available from the NHS to help smokers quit. The new digital approach to ditching nicotine was unveiled today by public health minister, Caroline Flint. The Department of Health says the new ‘Together’ programme expands the current NHS stop smoking services to those people who may not want to quit […]
News