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:
DH on alert over swine flu
The Department of Health is advising people to call its telephone helpline, NHS Direct, if they are worried about swine flu. The World Health Organisation decided to declare a “phase four” pandemic flu alert after cases of swine flu spread from Mexico to the US and Europe. A pandemic will be officially underway if a “phase six” alert is declared. Telephone and online services will then take over from normal GP services.
• More information on the DH website
• Visit NHS Direct
Budget warns of harder times ahead
The Budget confirmed that the public sector is facing tougher financial times. Chancellor Alastair Darling said there would be no “cuts” in health or education. However, he also forecast almost zero spending increases and demands for efficiency savings. A Treasury paper said the NHS and other public bodies could make significant efficiency savings by outsourcing payroll and other “back office” functions and improving their purchasing and use of IT.
• Read more on the E-Health Insider industry portal
Politicians promise to scrap databases
Opposition politicians followed the Budget with a series of speeches promising to scrap big IT projects to save money. Liberal Democrat Vince Cable said his party would scrap “the NHS IT project” and ID cards, while Conservative Party leader David Cameron pledged to scrap the electronic patient records being developed by the National Programme for IT in the NHS, ID cards, and the children’s database ContactPoint. Cameron suggested Microsoft’s HealthVault would be a better and cheaper alternative to the NHS’ records project.
Read more on E-Health Insider
Money found for NHS innovation
Health minister Lord Darzi has unveiled a package of measures to encourage innovation in the NHS. The measures include a new fund with prizes of up to £1 million for people who come up with ideas for tackling the big challenges facing health and social care, such as ageing or obesity, and another fund of £220 million that strategic health authorities will distribute over the next five years to encourage the take-up of new ideas.
• Read the press release on the official News Distribution Services website:
Money found to get unemployed into social care
The Department for Work and Pensions has found £75 million to help employers take on social care trainees. The money will be used to get 50,000 unemployed young people – aged 18 to 24 – into social care jobs. The money is part of a strategy that the government says will also boost the image of social care and make sure it can attract “the best and brightest candidates”, graduates and managers in the future. The social care sector will become increasingly important as the population ages.
• Read the press release on the official News Distribution Services website