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Contract to provide phone services across north west covers call handling, clinical assessment and referral services Primary care trusts in the north west of England are seeking a supplier of non-emergency telephone services to support NHS 111 in the region. The NHS 111 phone number, which will be rolled out nationally by March 2013, will provide an alternative to the 999 emergency number, by offering a source of advice to people about non-emergency health issues. The Department of Health (DH) has said that the service should clear up any confusion about who patients should contact during day or...

British Medical Association urges health secretary to slow down implementation of non-emergency number to allow for proper assessment The British Medical Association (BMA) has written to health secretary Andrew Lansley over concerns about the implementation of the NHS 111 24-hour non-emergency phone service. The letter, written by Dr Laurence Buckman, chair of the BMA's GPs committee, expresses "serious misgivings" about the roll out of the NHS 111 service. "Our key concerns include specific problems in some of the pilot areas, failure to ensure a smooth transition or to address...

Health website attracts 56% more visits in October to December 2011 compared to 2010 The Department of Health (DH) has reported a 56% increase in the number of people using NHS Choices in October to December 2011 compared to the same period last year. According to the DH, the health information website had 368,000 visits, 133,000 more visits a day than 2010. During the Christmas period concerns about norovirus drove up visits to pages on the winter vomiting bug by 162% compared to last year. Between 19 and 27 December 2011 there was an 117% increase in traffic to these pages compared to the previous...

Financial and leadership problems are among the obstacles preventing NHS trusts from gaining foundation status, say MPs Nearly half of hospitals that have still to attain foundation status are facing challenges more severe than previously thought, according to an MPs committee report. The report, published by the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, says four out of five of hospitals seeking status were facing financial difficulties; 78% were tackling strategic issues and two thirds were facing performance and quality problems. Nearly 40% still needed to strengthen their governance and leadership...

Telehealth technology to be funded as part of the government's life sciences strategy, prime minister says The roll out of telehealth technology, which the government said will support 3 million people with long term health conditions over the next five years, will be funded as part of the government's life sciences strategy. Announcing the strategy, prime minister David Cameron said that the whole systems demonstrator (WSD) programme trial had been a big success and that the Department of Health would now implement the programme nationally. He highlighted the achievements of the technology...

The Central Office of Information has seen its income from the Department of Health fall by more than four-fifths The Department of Health (DH) has cut its spending with its top 100 suppliers by nearly half, with the Central Office of Information (COI) seeing an 82% fall in the payments it received, according to figures released by the department to Guardian Healthcare under Freedom of Information. The DH's total spending for 2010-11 dropped from £822.2m in 2009-10 to £443.8m in 2010-11. Its payments to COI, which provides publicity services to Whitehall departments, fell from £154.5m in 2009...

Patient advice service NHS Direct is considering options to replace the capacity of three call centres which it is being forced to shut NHS Direct is to close three of its call centres next year, following landlord East of England ambulance service trust, giving it notice to quit two of the sites in Chelmsford and Norwich. A third site in Ipswich will close because it is supported by the other two. A spokeswoman for the digital and telephone advice service said the closures were regrettable, but NHS Direct had no choice. A total of 120 staff will be affected, the majority of whom are nurses, although...

Review of 29 academic studies finds that texting or calling patients before healthcare appointments significantly reduces non-attendance The number of patients failing to turn up for hospital appointments can be reduced by 34% using SMS text message or phone reminders, according to review carried out by telemedicine specialists at the university hospital of North Norway. The review , published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare , found that automated reminders were less effective than staff making phone calls, however. Manual reminders produced a 39% reduction in people not attending appointments...