Ambulance trusts join map data sharing deal
Ambulance trusts in England will now have the opportunity to share geographical data with other trusts as part of a deal between the Health and Social Care Information Centre and Ordnance Survey. The Ordnance Survey has announced that 31 ambulance trusts will now be able to join the agreement, signed in November 2005. They will […]
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HSCIC in talks with private sector partner
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the Department of Health agency with prime responsibility for co-ordinating NHS and social care statistics, has confirmed that it is in discussion with a potential partner from the private sector. A report in the Guardian said that the centre was negotiating to hand over work to Dr […]
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St George’s publishes all mortality data online
St George’s Hospital, Tooting, south London, has become the first NHS hospital in the UK to publish graphs of mortality rates online for all medical disciplines carried out at the hospital from the year 2000. The information, published six months after the trust published detailed statistics of cardiology mortality rates according to surgeons, are available online […]
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National A+E system begins rollout in Scotland
iSOFT has announced the first implementation of a Scotland-wide A&E informatics system in NHS Grampian. The Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) went live in Aberdeen Children’s Hospital in May and in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in January and May respectively. iSOFT is rolling out the rest of the system to NHS Grampian, and plans to have […]
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Software piloted for better cancer data collection
Pilot IT systems have been implemented in two local cancer registries with the intention of improving the quality of the data they report back to the Department of Health. Merseyside & Cheshire Cancer Registry and Thames Cancer Registry have piloted data capture software that can meaningfully collate data in HL7, XML or CSV formats. The software will make […]
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Welsh telemedicine in great shape, says First Minister
Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan, has lent his support to the use of telemedicine within the country, saying that it has had great benefits for NHS Wales. Speaking ahead of last week’s seventh summit of the British Irish Council on the Isle of Man, which focused on the benefits of telemedicine, Morgan said: "Wales has […]
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Data spine could form part of 2011 Census
Data in the 2011 census could come from patient records held on the National Programme for IT, according to a consultation document released by the Office for National Statistics. "Detailed information on health conditions and treatments" from the data spine may be incorporated in the next 10-yearly census, the document suggests, providing the system is […]
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Patient information site rivals NHS Direct Online
Patient information website patient.co.uk has claimed that it is now as popular as NHS Direct Online, with just under 1.2m visitors received last month. The site, maintained by husband and wife team Dr Tim and Beverley Kenny, contains the same patient information leaflets that health professionals give to patients about any conditions that they are diagnosed with, […]
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Kaiser to end ‘wobbly’ medicine
Doctors working without computerised systems are working in the “operational dark ages”, according to George Halvorson, chief executive officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. Speaking at the World Health Care Congress in Chantilly, France, he outlined his organisation’s $3 billion project to create a fully computerised information tool kit including an automated patient […]
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Can routine data detect ‘rogue’ doctors?
Was Rodney Ledward a statistical outlier? Researchers have discovered that the rogue gynaecologist could have been detected through the analysis of routinely collected data, but they caution against over-interpreting apparently poor results from doctors saying a scientifically credible explanation for outliers is needed. Ledward, who died in 2000, was struck off the medical register after […]
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