NHS IT, Records and Data

Lessons from WannaCry

20.06.18: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, warns that the UK Government must take seriously the threat of a more sophisticated cyber-attack in light of last year’s WannaCry fiasco. On Friday 12 May 2017, th...

E-referral service rolled out by over half of NHS trusts

12.06.18: Over half of all acute trusts in the NHS in England have now switched over to the NHS e-referral service (e-RS). Traditional paper referrals are being phased out across all trusts and, from October, providers will only be paid for activity that...

NHS England ‘far too slow’ to address misdirected clinical correspondence issue

07.06.18: The NHS has wasted almost £2.5m on reviewing the handling of misdirected clinical correspondence, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said. According to the committee’s report, NHS England was “far too slow” to treat...

GDPR: Record rights and wrongs

06.06.18: As patients get stronger legal rights to access and challenge the contents of their medical records, Dr Carol Chu, Medical Defence Union (MDU) medico-legal adviser, looks at the implications for clinicians and healthcare managers. Requests...

WannaCry: Has enough progress been made in the NHS?

06.06.18: Last year's major cyber-attack highlighted the importance of being prepared for digital threats. But what progress has really been made since then, and what else needs to change to ensure the NHS isn't vulnerable? Adam Wright, policy o...

Data sharing to improve care: the GP potential

18.05.18: As sharing data across organisations becomes the norm in the NHS, will general practice embrace its potential to improve the care we deliver to patients? Rebecca Fisher, a GP and policy fellow at the Health Foundation, investigates. “...

Is the NHS ready for another WannaCry?

02.05.18: NHE’s Seamus McDonnell on the plans put in place to protect trusts and other NHS organisations from potential future cyber-attacks. In May 2017, the NHS’s cyber protection plans were thrust into the limelight after a ransomware...

Havant MP leads calls for NHS to go fully digital, saving taxpayer ‘billions’

01.05.18: An MP has today published a report calling for the NHS to scrap paper forms of recording and go fully digital as part of the ‘fourth Industrial Revolution’ which would allow patients to take on more control of their treatment. ...

NHS ‘on the cusp’ of great tech opportunity

24.04.18: The NHS is “on the cusp of a great opportunity” to accelerate the contributions of community nurses through the use of technology, according to NHS Digital’s chief nurse. In the foreword that she has written for a new Queen&rs...

Data-sharing framework needed this year to dodge another ‘DeepMind fiasco’

19.04.18: NHS England and NHS Digital must – with the support of the ICO, trusts and clinicians – publish a framework for the sharing of healthcare data by the end of this year in order to avoid another DeepMind fiasco. The call come from...

Cyber security plans impossible as NHS still in dark about WannaCry

18.04.18: The WannaCry cyber-attack on 12 May 2017 was a wake-up call for the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) must now act on priorities by June this year, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has argued. The attack caused wide...

NHS Digital ‘entirely inappropriate’ in sharing patient data with Home Office

16.04.18: NHS Digital’s decision to share patient information with the Home Office is “entirely inappropriate,” according to the chair of the Health and Social Care Committee. The comments come following the publicity of the committee&r...

Crossing the digital health chasm

11.04.18: Alison Marshall, professor of health technology and innovation at the University of Cumbria, considers whether the NHS is stuck in a digital health chasm when it comes to innovation uptake. For some time now I have been studying the adoptio...

Tax on sugary drinks ‘will help ease obesity epidemic’, says RCGP

06.04.18: Today, the UK’s tax on sugary drinks came into effect as part of the government’s flagship anti-obesity policy. This new tax comes into effect as obesity-related illnesses continue to put a strain on the NHS and public health at...

CQC raises concern around online GP services as 43% of providers fall short on safety

26.03.18: The CQC has raised concerns that the quality of care provided through independently run apps or websites is still lagging behind in terms of safety. In its review of online services that provide GP consultations and prescriptions online thr...