King’s Fund: choice yet to drive quality
The government’s choice policy has yet to be fully implemented and has yet to drive quality in the NHS, a study by the King’s Fund has concluded. The results of a survey of patients attending eight NHS trusts and two independent sector treatment centres show that half did not remember being given a choice of […]
News
Data quality held to quality account
The Department of Health wants NHS organisations to publish details of their data quality as part of its plans for Quality Accounts, which will be mandatory for hospitals from next year and for primary care from 2011. A public consultation on the proposed framework for Quality Accounts has been launched by the DH ahead of […]
News
Data added to clinical indicators
The Department of Health and The NHS Information Centre have published the data for more than 200 indicators against which NHS clinical teams can compare their performance. By typing keywords into a section marked Indicators for Quality Improvement on the IC website, individuals can now assess their performance against the indicators that are most relevant […]
News
MPs back technology for patient safety
MPs have criticised the Department of Health for failing to collect data on whether a decade of policies to improve patient safety are working or not. In a report concluding its inquiry into patient safety, the House of Commons Health Committee says “judging the overall effectiveness of patient safety policy is made difficult because of […]
News
DH to review hand-held devices
The Department of Health is to review the market for hand-held devices for community-based staff, with a view to issuing guidance to primary care trusts on what is available. The review was announced in a “progress report” on the final report of Lord Darzi’s Next Stage Review of the NHS, which was published a year […]
News
Community quality indicators launched
The Department of Health has launched more than 70 proposed quality indicators for community services alongside six guides to transforming community services. The guides include advice on how IT can be harnessed to improve patient care, particularly through the sharing of information. On end of life care, the examples of actions with the greatest potential […]
News
Perot to help implement Meditech at Rotherham
US health software firm Meditech has announced that Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has selected its 6.0 Health Care Information System (HCIS) as its primary software provider. Perot Systems will provide consultancy services in implementing the software at the Foundation Trust. E-Health Insider first reported in March that Rotherham had selected Meditech to provide it with […]
News
EU Network set up to share human samples
An ambitious €170m network linking European biobanks and related information resources to connect researchers across the continent is to be established.
News
Money, money, money
The theme of this year’s NHS Confederation conference was money; or rather the coming lack of it. Lyn Whitfield reports.
Feature
GPs told to harness IT innovation
GP practices are being encouraged to harness innovative IT services to improve the quality of care they deliver to patients. The BMA’s General Practitioner Committee has launched a new publication setting out examples of how GPs have developed services for their patients to inspire others to follow suit. Developing general practice: listening to patients says […]
News