Microsoft NHS Resource Centre: news round up

Welcome to the Microsoft NHS Resource Centre’s seven day round up of the latest news from the NHS and the healthcare IT sector:

Government plans social care revolution

The government is expected to unveil ambitious plans to create a ‘national care service’ to operate alongside the National Health Service in a green paper on care and support. The paper will focus on options for helping people to pay for the care they need in old age. At the moment, social care is means-tested, forcing many old people to sell houses or other assets to pay for care services. The green paper will also focus on making care more widely available, since many local authorities only provide services for those in greatest need, forcing others to make their own arrangements or go without help.

• Read more in the Guardian 

Ofcom proposes not-quite-emergency 111 number

The communications regulator, Ofcom, has launched a consultation on setting up a national non-emergency 111 number for healthcare.  It argues that 111 could be used by patients who need urgent medical attention, but whose condition is not life-threatening. Calls to the telephone helpline NHS Direct might be made through 111 eventually. However, in the short term, its 0845 number and local out-of-hours services numbers would continue to operate. Medical and patient bodies say this could be confusing.

• Read more on the E-Health Insider news website
• Visit the Ofcom consultation website

Public asked for views on HealthSpace

NHS Connecting for Health, the agency that runs NHS IT, is asking NHS staff, patients and the public for their views on the future development of the HealthSpace online organiser. NHS CFH was planning a major expansion of HealthSpace so that patients could use it to view their medical records, make appointments with their GP and manage their conditions online. The expansion was shelved recently. However, a survey is now asking people whether they would like such services and how often they might use them. The agency says the results will influence its future plans.  

• Read more on the E-Health Insider news website
• Complete the survey

NHS computers hit by viruses

NHS computers have been infected by more than 8,000 viruses in the past year, according to figures obtained by More4 News. The incidents uncovered by a survey and Freedom of Information Act requests include well-known outbreaks, such as the Mytob worm attack at Bart’s and the London NHS Trust last November and the Conficker outbreak at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in January. Security expert Ros Anderson told More4 News that most virus outbreaks were preventable if security updates were deployed properly. “Where you find infections of computers, it’s very often symptomatic of poor management of IT,” he said.

• Read more on the Security Watch website
• Read more about the Barts and Sheffield outbreaks on the E-Health Insider website

Dementia advisors start work

Care services minister Phil Hope has announced that specialist dementia advisors are to start work in 22 areas around the country. The advisors will guide people with dementia and their families and carers through the illness, help them to navigate the care and support system, and provide other practical help and advice. Another 18 areas will pilot alternative support services, such as ‘dementia cafes’ where people can meet up and social networking sites that they can use online.

• Read the press release on the government’s official News Distribution Services website.