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 pushes on with national IT programme
The government has indicated that it is going to push on with the National Programme for IT in the NHS, despite severe delays in the delivery of electronic records to hospitals and health communities. In a response to a report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Health says it is confident that the Lorenzo and Millennium systems will be delivered eventually and that they will work effectively when this happens.
• Read the full story on the E-Health Insider website
Conservatives promise a market in healthcare information
The Conservative Party would remove the government’s flagship health service website, NHS Choices, from Department of Health control and force it to compete “on the same terms” as other sources of healthcare information. A paper published on the party’s website says the site is not doing as good a job as it should be doing because it is not sufficiently independent. The party also promises an “information revolution” to improve safety and quality if it comes to power.
• Read the full story on the E-Health Insider website
Online drugs and private tests could be making people ill
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has raised concerns about the increasing number of drugs and tests sold over the internet and the increasing number of health checks and scans carried out by private companies. It says these could be doing more harm than good because they can make people worry about their health, lead to unnecessary treatment, and cause harmful side-effects. It has launched a consultation on whether more regulation is necessary.
• Read the BBC’s story here:
National Leadership Council Announced
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke is one of 40 “leading figures” from healthcare, business and the public sector who have agreed to become part of a new National Leadership Council for the NHS. The council, which will be chaired by NHS chief executive David Nicholson, is intended to improve the quality of leadership in the health service and to inspire better patient care. It will work closely with the new NHS Quality Board that started work last week.
• Read the press release on the government’s official News Distribution Services website:
And finally: Boozers pile on the pounds
As part of its Know Your Limits campaign, the Department of Health is reminding drinkers that alcohol contains hidden calories. The DH says the average wine drinker consumes 2,000 calories from alcohol each month – a day’s food intake for a woman and the equivalent of 184 bags of crisps a year. It also says a beer drinker getting through five pints a week would add 44,200 calories a year to their diet – the equivalent of 221 doughnuts. Snacks and “morning after” fry-ups add to the pounds. The British Nutrition Foundation has issued some tips for minimising the calorie intake from alcohol.
• Read the press release on the government’s official News Distribution Services website (this includes the BNF’s tips)
• Visit the government’s Drink Aware website, which has more information on units and calories and a “drink diary” that people can use to keep track of both.