New report sets out need for e-prescribing
A new report from the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer on the causes of medicines safety has spelt out the critical role that electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems can play in reducing medication errors. ‘Building a Safer NHS for Patients: Improving Medication Safety’ describes standards of prescribing in the NHS as high. However, it stresses mistakes can arise […]
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Welsh NHS IT strategy launched, again
In the week that the NHS in England awarded a tranche of major IT contracts, worth £2.7 billion, Welsh Assembly Health Minister Jane Hutt has once again officially launched the IT strategy for the Welsh NHS, the difference being this time that £88m of dedicated funding has been committed over the next three years. The ‘Informing […]
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Swansea switches on integrated care records
Adults with learning disabilities in Swansea are set to become the first social services clients in Wales to benefit from a new electronic care record system linking together health and social care professionals. This Friday, 7 November, Swansea’s city and council Social Services department will officially launch a new computerised client record system, which will […]
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Reader Comment: ‘NPfIT Viewed from Scotland’
The following ‘reader comment’ was supplied in response to recent E-Health Insider reports on the development of the National Programme for IT. The author is a consultant anaesthetist at a leading Scottish acute trust, who leads on IT issues locally. There is much about the current national programme procurements and what they entail, and the machinations […]
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Long Term Approach to IT Reform for NHS Wales
A long term commitment to transforming healthcare using information and IT is outlined in NHS Wales’ new strategy, Informing Healthcare. The emphasis of the early part of the implementation will be on legacy management and ensuring that the service is ready to run with the changes. Informing Healthcare says the most commonly cited cause of […]
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Healthcare IT and Devolution
The health services in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were detached from the English mother ship as part of devolution. This can be seen in terms of policies: in this week’s elections for the Welsh Assembly, Labour promised free prescriptions if it regained power. But it also means that IT is procured by each nation, […]
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DH Shapes Up National IT Structures
The "Who Does What" debate at the top level of healthcare IT continues but the HC2003 audience at Harrogate this week got a glimpse on the shape of things to come for the NHS Information Authority (NHSIA), the Information Policy Unit (IPU) and the National IT Programme Department of Health (DH) director of research, information […]
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NHS Wales Launches Online Jobs Service
The NHS in Wales has launched a jobs service which brings health service vacancies together on a single web site. The site allows users to search for jobs by category, organisation, salary, hours, keywords and geographical area in Wales. It is open to existing NHS staff who want to change jobs and to the public. […]
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Telemedicine and Telecare Site for Wales
A new website to support telemedicine and telecare in Wales has been launched by the Welsh Assembly Government’s NHS Division Telemedicine Team. The site is available on the NHS Wales Intranet and in a slightly modified form for the public on the Internet. The site includes details of projects underway in Wales and further afield, […]
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NHS ‘Numbers for Babies’ Goes Live
A new computerised ‘numbers for babies’ system went live across the NHS at midnight on 29 October, marking a significant step towards the goal of electronic patient records. Starting today all babies born in England and Wales are to be issued with an NHS number at birth, helping to ensure that personal records are consistent […]
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