Welsh practices top 1000 point QOF average
Welsh GP practices have increased their average achievement in the Quality and Outcomes Framework to more than 1000 points, newly published results reveal. Practice by practice figures for the second year of the QoF released by the Welsh Assembly show that all 500 practices in Wales took part in the voluntary scheme and achieved […]
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Derbyshire PCTs ditch NHS Direct for out-of-hours
NHS Direct will no longer provide out-of-hours services to three Derbyshire PCTs after concerns were raised over long callback times. Two deputising services, which were previously supplying OOH services before NHS Direct, will now put out a joint tender with a view to replacing NHS Direct in November. Dr John Grenville, chair of Derbyshire LMCs, […]
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GPASS users doubt future use in national records
Ministerial claims that the troubled GP system GPASS will be central to the development of the national electronic single record in Scotland have been dismissed by the system’s own user group. Andy Kerr, Scottish health minister, told GP newspaper Pulse last week that GPASS would be "an incredibly important part of IT developments in Scotland […]
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ECGs by phone for GPs in the north west
GPs in Lancashire and Cumbria SHA have started using a telephone-based clinical monitoring service, using small devices that take ECGs which are then interpreted over the phone while the patient waits. Broomwell Healthwatch, based in Manchester, have supplied monitoring devices to several GP practices. These devices are already in several practices in Preston, Chorley and […]
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GPs highlight “clunky” functionality of C+B
The Choose and Book system is "clunky and cumbersome" and slower than the paper-based referral mechanism it is intended to replace, according to GPs. In a survey of 40 practices undertaken by the GP magazine Pulse, respondents complained of lack of standardisation and speed of the internet browser-based software. Dr Patrick Clarke, a GP in […]
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‘Connect with GPs’ call for IT modernisers
A GP magazine has called on Connecting for Health (formerly the National Programme for IT) to connect with its readers following a survey of NHS IT modernisation. Pulse magazine says respondents to its Agenda 2005 survey condemned the government’s "entire approach to IT." It says half of 1003 respondents felt the government’s IT policy ‘badly’ […]
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