High level QOF data release delayed
An early release of provisional high-level Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) data for GP practices in England on 5 August has been cancelled and one full version will be released at the end of the month. The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) announced: “The decision has been taken because of the large number of […]
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National data quality review called for
The NHS needs a national overview of data quality and coding integrity as the Payment by Results regime gathers pace, the NHS Confederation is set to argue. A discussion paper to be sent out to members of the confederation – which represents 92 per cent of NHS organisations in the UK – argues that the […]
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Child health and social care data ‘must fit together’
The proposed national child index that will be used to record and share information about the statutory services being used by individual children must be made to fit with the national programme for IT, the government has said. The government response to a consultation on information sharing databases – also known as child indexes – carried […]
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£80m telecare grant to shape new care patterns
An £80m grant to shape new patterns of social care using telecare has been announced by the Department of Health (DH). News of the grant, which will be available to local authorities for investment over two years from April 2006, was accompanied by new guidance on Building telecare in England Liam Byrne, minister for care […]
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Red rose rising
EHI Primary Care talks to Lancashire Care NHS Trust, the first mental health trust in England to receive a PAS system from Connecting for Health.
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GP systems market shake-out predicted by Granger
The numbers of GP system suppliers and local pharmacies could be reduced within five years as the NHS IT programme transforms their markets, Richard Granger, chief executive of NHS Connecting for Health, has predicted. Granger described the primary care systems market as "immature" and based on a business model unlikely to be sustainable. He said: "I don’t […]
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Granger issues stern warning for failing suppliers
Richard Granger, director general of NHS IT and chief executive of NHS Connecting for Health, has delivered another stern warning to suppliers lagging behind on delivery. Speaking at the Health and Social Care Exchange conference in London, he said: "There is a problem with some suppliers. The strategy of not giving the whole of the […]
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Forrest answers NPfIT communication concerns
Martyn Forrest, Regional Implementation Director (RID) for the North East cluster and acting RID for London, has promised to look into concerns about communication between local and national implementation structures. Speaking at the Health and Social Care Exchange conference in London this week, Forrest also promised to look into audience concerns that solutions to […]
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QOF publication due despite GP concerns
Publication of individual practice results for the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is likely to go ahead in England, Wales and Northern Ireland next month despite concerns from GP representatives. The results from three of the four countries in the UK are due to appear more than two months after Scotland became the first to […]
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Electronic medication reminders help elderly
PCTs in Staffordshire have started piloting a scheme where elderly people are reminded to take their medication with an electronic prompting device. The Medicine Reminder Initiative, a collaboration between housing services, pharmacists, social services and Newcastle under Lyme and South West Staffordshire PCT, was started in order to give vulnerable people support in remembering […]
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