Healthcare IT news in brief

Central funding for digital tech project in the South West

NHS England has announced central funding for a slew of digital project in the south west, from shared care records to telehealth services.

The commission body’s chief executive Simon Stevens revealed funding for GP surgeries, cancer services and mental health treatments, some of which would go digital transform projects.

This included improved IT infrastructure at 30 GP practices, a new shared electronic end-of-life plan platform, remote IT access for staff and video consulting.

The for technology would primarily come from the Estates and Technology Fund, although exactly how much money would be allocated to the projects is unclear.

The money is linked to many projects outline on the area’s Sustainability and Transformation Plan wishlist.

Clinical commissioning groups that have been earmarked from digital funding include NHS Kernow, NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon, NHS Somerset, NHS South Devon and Torbay, and NHS South Gloucestershire CCG

NHS Shared Business Service in new tech deal to reduce procurement costs

NHS Shared Business Service has partnered with retail technology company Virtualstock to set-up an e-commerce procurement platform. Virtualstock runs e-commerce platforms for major retailers such as Argos and Tesco.

The joint-venture shared service, owned by the department of health and Sopra Steria Ltd, says the platform could host up to 100,000 suppliers on a digital marketplace for NHS organisations. The Shelford Group, a collection of England's leading academic medical, has already agreed to run its procurement through the platform.

Radiology issues in Medway

Improvements to radiology information system in Kent have been delayed. Medway NHS Foundation Trust’s October board papers showed the patient administration system/RIS interface work that was originally planned for October is no longer proceeding. The report said it was working with supplier, GE, to reschedule.

In September, the RIS used by the Kent and Medway consortium, covering four trusts suffered a week-long hardware failure following an upgrade. The four trusts in the consortium are Dartford and Gravesham, East Kent University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

South Devon trials e-prescribing ahead of 2017 go-live

A group on South Devon trusts is testing NoemaLife’s e-prescribing ahead of a deployment last year. The test will be run across acute and community care setting later this month.

Royal Cornwall looking for new renal system

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has gone to market for a new renal software product. The contract is from three years, for the option to extend for a further two years, with tenders closing on 1 December.

Wales picks Conworx

NHS Wales has signed a seven-year agreement with Conworx to provider the country with point of care testing software. The software will be audit patient safety, lab results, transcription errors and improve standardisation and data integrity across NHS Wales.

Money for SME in Derbyshire and Nottingham

Medical technology SMEs in Derbyshire and Nottingham could be given a helping hand with a new regional funding opportunity.  The MedTech trials programme, part funded by the European Regional Development fund and launched by East Midlands Academic Health Science Network and Medilink East Midlands, is offering cash to fund clinical trials.

MedTech products could include an instrument, apparatus, appliance or software that can prevent, diagnose or treat diseases, improve services for patients, or save money by enabling health services to run more efficiently. Often SMEs can’t get their products into the mainstream healthcare market because they lack the money for clinical evidence.