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:
WHO declares flu pandemic
The World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic flu alert level to phase six, meaning that a pandemic is now underway. The alert level was raised because the H1N1 flu strain has spread to so many countries. To date, most of the people who have been affected have not become seriously ill. However, a woman from Scotland has become the first person in the UK to die from H1N1 influenza. Health officials said she had other medical problems.
• Read the Department of Health’s advice about pandemic flu on its website
• Visit the WHO website
Confed warns of tough times ahead
The NHS Confederation has warned that the health service could face a real-terms funding shortfall of £15 billion over the five years from 2010-11, when its current settlement with the Treasury runs out. In a paper published at the start of its annual conference in Liverpool, the management body says that even if the NHS does better than many other government departments, a combination of higher demand and higher costs could leave it short of funds. The paper urges the NHS to innovate and maintain quality to cope, and not to lengthen waiting lists or target cleaning and training for savings.
• Read Dealing with the Downturn: the greatest ever leadership challenge for the NHS? on the NHS Confederation website:
• Read more about the conference in our feature
Burnham to replace targets with standards
New health secretary Andy Burnham has promised a “deep clean” of national targets for the NHS. In a speech to the NHS Confederation’s annual conference, he said that some targets – such as the 18 week wait for routine treatment – might be replaced by national minimum standards, while others – such as the MRSA target – could be made more responsive to local conditions. Burnham also promised new “freedoms” for high-performing primary care trusts.
• Read the Department of Health’s official press release about the speech on the government’s News Distribution Services website
HealthSpace expansion plans shelved
The Department of Health appears to have shelved plans for a massive expansion of its HealthSpace patient portal, which was intended to become the main way for people to interact with the health service online. The E-Health Insider website reports that the DH wants to see more evidence of its benefits for patients before pushing ahead. Some commentators argue that personal health record platforms being developed by companies like Microsoft can do the job better.
• Read the story on the E-Health Insider website
US president urges support for reform
US President Barack Obama has unveiled ambitious plans to overhaul America’s healthcare system and urged doctors to support them. He told the American Medical Association that he was not trying to “socialise” healthcare on the UK or New Zealand models with his plans to make sure that all Americans are insured and have their own electronic health record. He also warned that without reform the $2.5 trillion health system could bankrupt the US.
• Read more on the BBC website