Connecting for Health

Charles Gutteridge has been appointed as the first national clinical director for informatics, the Department of Health announced today.

One million electronic health records have been transferred using the GP2GP service, part of the National Programme for IT.

The picture archiving and communications system (PACS) has proved its mettle in England's recent "big freeze" by allowing clinicians to respond with fast safe diagnosis and treatment for patients injured in the severe weather.

N3, the secure national broadband network for the NHS, is to offer trusts a national videoconferencing service via BT.

There are now 500,000 registered NHSmail accounts and over half a billion emails have been sent since the new service went live just over a year ago.

The Department of Health Informatics Directorate has issued guidance to advise NHS trusts how to respond to security concerns about the internet browser 'Internet Explorer 6'.

N3, the NHS Connecting for Health service that provides fast broadband networking to the NHS, has won an honour for the second year running, at the e-Government National Awards 2009.

A new free three-digit non-emergency healthcare number, where NHS Connecting for Health programme NHS Pathways provides the key under-pinning infrastructure, has been given the go-ahead today by Telecoms regulator Ofcom (18 December 2009).

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has told MPs that the Government has no intention of cancelling the National Programme for IT and has clarified that "the NHS could not function without it".

The Department of Health is today issuing new guidance on the effective use of the Choose and Book system (8 December 2009).