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"This new system gives the NHS, for the first time ever, world-leading intelligence on chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. This means that in future the NHS will be able to map populations with these debilitating conditions with pinpoint accuracy. As the database builds up it will allow us to focus resources and plan services appropriately to help us tackle health inequalities. That means good news for NHS patients and good value for money for taxpayers,” commented Health Minister Lord Warner. Under the GP payment system, known as the Quality and Outcomes Framework, practices score points for achievement over a series of indicators with payment issued for services provided. NHS GP practices scored highly against a range of checks covering all aspects of care from diagnosis and ongoing management of conditions to record keeping, communication and the overall experience of patients. On average, each practice achieved 91 per cent of the points available - or 959 out of a possible 1050 points. "Increased investment in local health and care services is good
news for patients, who benefit from better care and provides a basis
for even greater improvement in services outside hospitals - a key aim,"
added Lord Warner.
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The
new NHS database on the prevalence and management of common chronic
diseases – the largest in the world of its type – has gone
live. The system, which is made up of results from a new GP payment
programme, will help the NHS direct resources more appropriately and
‘tackle health inequalities’. The database also makes monitoring
of patients with long-term diseases such as diabetes and chronic heart
conditions more efficient.
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It is understood that the spate of attacks on SMEs are down to hackers incorrectly thinking that their target domains belong to ISPs, leading to Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs). The situation brings the need for up-to-date network security in SMEs into sharp contrast. “A great number of our clients are SMEs and the sad reality
is that the size of this type of organisation has the potential to leave
the business exposed if they are unfortunate enough to be targeted and
are unprotected,” said Neil Hammerton, CEO of Email Systems. |
The
number of SMEs suffering from DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks
has risen sharply in recent months, according to the latest statistics
from email network analysts. Research from Email Systems shows a 45%
increase on attacks on businesses with ten employees or less, causing
significant damage to companies by effectively crippling the use of
email. A regular DDoS attack can comprise of several million emails
being delivered, sometimes during a single day.
MHT is one of the UK’s leading charitable housing associations, with over 13,000 homes based in London and the East Midlands. "With the Aventail system supplied through Clearview Systems, not only do we get highly secure remote access, we get far better access management and control than we had previously, along with more flexibility and scalability," explained Gary Dodge, ISD Infrastructure Manager at MHT. "Employees and contractors alike can now log on and get all the
information they need to do their jobs effectively, regardless of their
location. We now plan to extend the remote access to allow access to
our intranet sites and eventually to our Novell Netware file servers,"
he added. |
Metropolitan Housing Trust (MHT) has announced a new remote access solution
for its employees and contractors to access its housing management system.
The Aventail SSL VPN system lets MHT’s users access applications,
files and emails and respond to requests away from the office. Staff
and contractors are able to log on from a home PC or a dedicated company-managed
laptop with remote access rights.
"The NHS is developing into a service that not only provides excellent care when a person becomes sick, but also works with patients to help them maintain their health and stay out of hospital,” said Health Minister Lord Warner, announcing the system. "In January, we announced sweeping changes to the way in which NHS and social care organisations deliver care to people with long term conditions. As these changes are implemented, we are seeing excellent work going on across the country. This new system is a great innovation that will provide NHS staff with additional help in this important work," he added. The programme was developed for the DoH by the King’s Fund with researchers from New York University and Health Dialog, commissioned by Essex Strategic Health Authority, acting as lead commissioner for the 28 SHAs, Department of Health and the NHS Modernisation Agency. Although available now, the software will be developed during the year, and a final version with extended capability is expected to released at the start of 2006. National Clinical Director for Primary Care Professor David Colin-Thome
said; "This new system has real potential to improve the care delivered
to these patients. NHS organisations will now look at how best they
can use the new software alongside their current systems to deliver
the best possible care for their patients." |
The
Department of Health has announced the launch of a new ‘early
warning’ computer system that identifies patients with long-term
conditions who are most at risk of admittance to hospital. Using a range
of information such as age, illness and recent contact with the NHS,
the software is designed to clarify which patients are most in need
of care, allowing care teams to work with them and avoiding hospital
visits.
Jobcentre Plus has launched a new information DVD to promote its services to people with disabilities and other health conditions, it has been announced. The DVD, available in several languages and versions – including British Sign Language – is directed at individuals, but will also be valuable to disability organisations, health professionals and employers who are looking at employing a more diverse workforce. "This is about putting into practice opportunities of support, equality and choice to disabled people and those with health conditions,” said Minister for Disabled People Anne McGuire. "We know that one million disabled people say they would like
to work and many believe they could work if given the right support.
By launching the 'We Can Help' DVD Jobcentre Plus is raising awareness
and ensuring that no one misses out on the wide range of local advice
and support available to those who may be considering returning to the
workplace," she added.
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