Technology is specifically designed to help make life easier. This applies to healthcare as much as any area of life, but is the new NHS App – rolled out across the country last year – a good example of such technology and a good use of NHS resources? The NHS App, which is slowly…

Whenever a general election is on the horizon, you can expect politicians of all types to be particularly amenable, approachable and open to ideas. It’s no surprise then, that as election day approaches on December 12, each of the main parties have been setting out their stalls in manifestos that, if to be believed, should…

One of the great frustrations for any healthcare professional is dissatisfaction from patients! It is not our aim to have to make them wait for an appointment, or to have to say there is little we can do when they complain about waiting times for the referral we have made. As frustrating as this is,…

There has been considerable press exposure surrounding the NHS pension in recent weeks, including the increase in the employer’s pension rate, the possible 50/50 partial scheme, the ongoing administration issues, and the ‘Separate Cash Payment’ scheme. Many of the potential changes in the pension scheme relate to, or are aimed at, alleviating the Annual Allowance…

Practices may be required to supply details weekly of their waiting lists for appointments, it has been reported. The first collection of data – by NHS Digital – is set to be in November. The aim is to enable NHS England to monitor pressures on practices during the winter months, the Health Service Journal reported.…

Patient records – and the inability of the NHS and its appointed contractors to handle them correctly – once again hit the headlines this week. This time, rather than Capita being in the firing line it was NHS Shared Business Services (SBS), who was employed in the East Midlands, South West and north-east London to…

A catalogue of delays led to nearly 2,000 patients being put at risk by unprocessed mail that accumulated over five years, according to a damning audit report published today. The revelations were branded a “disgrace” by one senior GP. In total at least 700,000 items of GP correspondence were put into storage by NHS Shared…