Last week NHS national director for improvement and efficiency Jim Easton said the long-awaited information strategy would focus on the role of information to support integrated care.

Ehealth Insider previously reported that the strategy will now be released next month at the earliest. As EHI commenter and GP Mary Hawking pointed out, this is a very tight deadline for NHS organisations to incorporate the strategy into their plans in time for go-live next April. Big questions will have to be sorted not least on GP Systems of Choice.

The results of the Whole Systems Demonstrator trials are also yet to appear, but despite this NHS Somerset has decided to roll out one of the largest telehealth monitoring projects outside of the national project. The primary care trust will use technology from Safe Patient Systems to monitor 4,000 people living with long-term conditions.

A story detailing an investigation of prescribing in general practice attracted plenty of comment this week regarding how to prevent prescribing errors. A study commissioned by the General Medical Council recommends better use of computer systems as a way to cut error rates.

IT ‘to move out of back office’ - Easton

The NHS information strategy, which is due out this month, will attempt to create a “mature adult relationship” between central direction and local action, a conference was told yesterday.

Somerset plans 4,000 telehealth users

NHS Somerset is planning to monitor the symptoms of 4,000 people living with long-term conditions over the next three years, using technology from Safe Patient Systems.

GP prescribing ‘could be improved by IT’

Better use of computer systems in general practice could reduce errors in GP prescribing, which are currently found in one in 20 prescriptions, a major study has recommended.

DH publishes child health requirements

The Department of Health has set out the information requirements for child health information systems in the new NHS.

ACS goes Fabric shopping

Advanced Computer Software Group has made another acquisition, buying Fabric Technologies for £4.6m in cash.

HPA systems to spot Olympic bugs

The Health Protection Agency has launched two new systems to help it spot new and emerging infections ahead of this summer’s Olympic games.

Nominate your champion of the year

Nominations have opened for the Healthcare IT Champion of the Year; a special category of the EHI Awards 2012 in association with BT that will be decided by you - the readers of eHealth Insider.

"We use computers, but not their full potential."

"It is going to get harder as we go on, we know we did the easier things first and if you look at the Chancellor’s budget, deep structural change is going to be with us for the next decade."

NHS national director for improvement and efficiency Jim Easton speaking about the need for ongoing efficiency savings in the NHS.

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