Communicating in a crisis
Christopher Small, Director for Public Sector, Telewest Business, argues that the NHS must have robust networks in place to deal with major incidents.
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Virtual healthcare research institute launched
A group of research institutions and healthcare user groups has joined forces to form the Virtual Institute of Research in Healthcare Practice (VIRIHP). Members will work together via online discussion boards, email and telephone and video conferencing in addition to conventional face-to-face meetings twice a year. One of the institute’s objectives will be to “develop […]
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New software for logging drug enquiries ready
New software that helps pharmacists in local medicine information centres to record and audit clinician enquiries about medication has been released this week, offering potential future expandability to the NHS Care Records Service and an update to some of the older, DOS-based systems. The MiDatabank system allows clinician enquiries about medication to be logged for future audit, […]
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Virtual NHS research institute proposed
A virtual National Institute for Health Research linking together NHS R&D centres around England is at the centre of proposals in a new research strategy out for consultation. The strategy paper says that the new institute would have: • A linked set of technology platforms to support clinical research in selected research-intensive hospitals and NHS […]
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Across the miles
The Isle of Arran and mainland Ayrshire are host to a successful long-term telehealth project, E-Health Insider reports.
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Chair of NHS Institute for Innovation named
Dame Yve Buckland has been named as the first chair of the new NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement by health minister, Jane Kennedy. Dame Yve said: "I am thrilled to be appointed to this role; the NHS Institute is an exciting venture which will help to provide an ambitious focus for new ideas, technologies and practices to […]
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The virtual patient
Dr Richard Fitton, GP and member of the Care Record Development Board, predicts a future in which patients have control over their own electronic health records.
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Privacy key for US electronic health records
US health information technology interests have expressed great concern about guarding the privacy of patient data in building a National Health Information Network (NHIN) in America, Neil Versel reports from Dallas. At the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting in Dallas last week, US national health information technology co-ordinator Dr David […]
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Ambulance trust gets network upgrade boost
Two Shires Ambulance Trust, which covers Buckhamshire and Northamptonshire, have installed a new virtual private network which manufactures Redstone say will improve response times through faster communication. The existing connection, which was on dial-up, has now been replaced with an ADSL service, and the trust’s 24 sites have now been fully networked on a LAN. […]
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Computer generated brain surgery to help trainees
Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed a virtual reality brain surgery simulator for trainee surgeons that combines haptics with three-dimensional graphics to give what they claim is the most realistic model in the world. A ‘map’ of the brain surface (below) is produced by the software, which also renders the tweezers (on the […]
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