NHS IT & policy

66 posts across the blog, other publications and LinkedIn · all articles

20 Aug 2026 What happens to your referral Triage that works, referral management that the evidence says doesn't, waiting-list validation paid by the patient removed, and the fact that nothing anywhere defines what work belongs in general practice.
21 Oct 2025 Exciting news - team work makes the dreamwork thanks to James Perry Jennifer Crooks and… LinkedIn Announces a partnership with colleagues to shape the new C&M PC-CRDC and invites local practices to collaborate.
8 Aug 2025 Announcement today below - my PCN is pushing NHS app uptake..is yours?' LinkedIn Notes that from September the NHS Cervical Screening Programme will send negative results via the NHS App, as his PCN drives uptake.
3 Jul 2025 One of the interesting things I've heard today is the crippling cost of SMS to the NHS… LinkedIn Weighs the high cost of NHS text messaging against the NHS App and other channels, and asks whether a richer secure comms app is needed.
20 Mar 2025 Interesting post. Agree with Gus - a practice's commitment to triage and whether or not… LinkedIn Neil argues practices too often accept the 'free' CSU or ICB IT product instead of assessing fit, and should invest proactively in tools that work.
13 Feb 2025 Gus is delivering a good product here which deserves more publicity - nice to see nhs app… LinkedIn Praises Gus's product for its NHS App integration and NHS-branded 'hero' look, which he thinks reduces patient confusion over non-NHS interfaces.
30 Jan 2025 Early news - Howbeck Healthcare Limited will be delivering a conference on AI in primary… LinkedIn Announces a Howbeck Healthcare conference on AI in primary care with Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, seeking speakers with case studies.
7 Jun 2024 Interesting morning welcoming and meeting Graham Urwin Cheshire & Mersey ICB Chief Exec… LinkedIn Reports hosting Cheshire & Mersey ICB and NHS England leaders at his practice to discuss working at scale, PCNs and IT.
24 Apr 2024 My PCN has been running a women’s health hub for a while now and was interested to see… LinkedIn Shares news on women's health hubs, questioning the one-per-ICB model given his PCN already runs one.
19 Sept 2023 Really good DTL forum meeting this am our 2nd bimonthly webinar free to attend for all… LinkedIn Reports a DTL forum webinar on Healthtech1 and NHS England patient-registration tools that save admin time.
8 Nov 2022 GP Records to be Turned on Again LinkedIn On the 2022 stand-off over prospective patient access to GP records: NHS England instructed system suppliers to switch it on, raising questions about who is really the data controller.
21 Sept 2022 Does anyone know if any of the GP apps (or indeed the NHS app) list all upcoming… LinkedIn Asks whether any GP or NHS app can list all a patient's upcoming appointments, however booked, and let them cancel to free slots.
5 Sept 2022 I've heard a rumour that GP apps that SMS patients may be soon able to send messages to… LinkedIn Discusses a rumour that GP messaging apps may soon deliver texts through the NHS App, potentially saving SMS costs.
1 Apr 2022 All the NHS England Primary care contracts for 22-23 were published today: link to each… LinkedIn Rounds up links to all the NHS England 2022-23 primary care contract documents in one place.
4 Mar 2022 The future of general practice has been published.... LinkedIn Summarises the newly published vision for general practice, flagging salaried at-scale working, the NHS App as front door, and data sharing.
27 Aug 2021 So the blood bottle shortage has hit us locally - edict from ccg last night: ' LinkedIn Reports a CCG edict halting most primary care blood testing until mid-September amid the blood bottle shortage.
3 Mar 2021 Loving the new Covid Vaccination progress chart in Apex from Edenbridge Healthcare… LinkedIn Praises the Covid vaccination progress chart in Edenbridge's Apex for visualising practice, PCN or CCG progress at a glance.
14 Jan 2021 We had the chair of the CCG and the Med Director of CWP both vaccinating today! LinkedIn A vaccination-day snapshot as CCG and CWP leaders joined in and the PR team filmed the clinic.
14 Jan 2021 We had the chair of the CCG and the Med Director of CWP both vaccinating today! LinkedIn
14 Jan 2021 We had the chair of the CCG and the Med Director of CWP both vaccinating today! LinkedIn A vaccination-day note that the CCG chair and CWP medical director were both vaccinating, with the PR team filming Neil and a manager.
14 Jan 2021 We had the chair of the CCG and the Med Director of CWP both vaccinating today! LinkedIn Recounts the CCG chair and CWP medical director helping vaccinate, with the PR team filming the clinic for a video.
14 Jan 2021 We had the chair of the CCG and the Med Director of CWP both vaccinating today! LinkedIn
22 Feb 2020 Freedom to speak up service Outlines Howbeck Healthcare's independent Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service for GP practices, meeting the NHS England and CQC requirements introduced after the Francis Review.
23 Aug 2019 NHS England publishes advice on setting up an ICS A short pointer to NHS England's guidance document on designing integrated care systems, the accountable-care-style reorganisation then sweeping the NHS.
22 Jun 2019 NHS App Store clamp down? A pointer to an HSJ report on ten apps, including Couch to 5K, being pulled from the NHS app library as standards were tightened.
21 Jun 2019 NHS England has published advice on setting up an ICS. LinkedIn Signposts NHS England's newly published guidance on setting up an Integrated Care System, with the document linked on his blog.
22 Mar 2019 A team from Howbeck Healthcare Limited ran a 2nd network workshop yesterday to the… LinkedIn Describes Howbeck's data-led network workshops helping forming GP networks in south Cheshire plan collaborative working, funded by NHS England.
10 Jan 2019 A summary of the NHS 10 year plan and some comments on local implications. LinkedIn A bullet-point summary of the NHS Long Term Plan with local commentary: primary care networks and pooled funding are real, and digital-first registration could destabilise traditional practices.
9 Jan 2019 Keep up to date with NHS reorganisations by learning from Cheshire LinkedIn A note-form briefing using Cheshire's changes — HCPs, Places, care communities and a proposed pan-Cheshire CCG merger — to explain where NHS reorganisation is heading.
18 Dec 2018 Roy Lilley catches up with my thinking! LinkedIn Notes Roy Lilley echoing his long-held point about the lack of GP activity data, and cites his prize-winning Apex primary care BI tool.
25 Aug 2018 Howbeck Healthcare Limited of which I am one of the owners/directors was recently… LinkedIn Howbeck Healthcare's whistleblowing investigation for Seldoc is published, alongside its Freedom to Speak Up and GDPR services.
23 Aug 2018 Should your next surgery printer be an Epson? A hands-on trial of Epson's workforce inkjets for GP surgeries: instant start-up, fine with prescriptions, and running costs the practice pays could undercut the usual Brother and HP lasers.
14 Aug 2018 FENO testing finally coming LinkedIn Announces that every practice in South Cheshire and Vale Royal CCGs can have a NICE-recommended FeNO machine for asthma diagnosis, funded jointly by the CCG and GP federation.
11 Apr 2018 Have you thought about giving FirstDerm a go? How Neil's GP federation white-labelled the FirstDerm teledermatology app so GPs can upload photos of skin lesions and get consultant advice back within 24 hours.
9 Apr 2018 Is NHS England wasting £45Million? Questions whether NHS England's £45m online consultations programme is the best use of the money, suggesting new hardware, training, process consultancy or first-contact physio schemes instead.
23 Mar 2018 Which e-consult is best? Reports back from a federation demo day of online consultation systems — iPlato, Egton, Ask My GP, Doctorlink and others — where Doctorlink impressed most but funding questions loomed.
22 May 2017 Another View: How to Develop future Clinical IT Leaders Argues the NHS lacks IT-literate clinicians to translate between clinical and technical worlds, and asks how CCIOs and informatics careers should be trained, qualified and nurtured.
29 Jun 2016 South Cheshire CCG have awarded the contract for Community Services to a consortium of… LinkedIn Explains that South Cheshire CCG's community services contract has gone to a trust and GP alliance consortium forming the CCICP.
21 Apr 2016 Email this am: Capita, the company commissioned by NHS England to provide Primary Care… LinkedIn Reports that Capita, NHS England's primary care support contractor, has missed April payments to PMS practices including his own, Ashfield.
25 Jan 2016 So far our GP federation has delivered >16000 extra GP appt's in our wave2 PMCF bid,with… LinkedIn Reports over 16,000 extra GP appointments delivered under a wave-2 PMCF bid, regretting the CCG's refusal to continue it.
14 May 2015 It's Primary Care Jim...but not as we know it! LinkedIn A twelve-point plan by co-director Mike Pyrah for how practices can meet the transformation agenda by federating, managing demand and preserving continuity of care.
24 Dec 2014 My Surgery SandbachGPs came 1st for >65y old flujab uptake and 2nd for <65y at risk… LinkedIn Celebrates SandbachGPs ranking first in its CCG for over-65 flu jab uptake and second for at-risk under-65s.
25 Feb 2014 4GPs has been really busy creating a bid for the Prime Ministers Primary Care Challenge… LinkedIn Describes 4GPs' bid to the Prime Minister's Primary Care Challenge Fund on behalf of over ten South Cheshire practices.
5 Feb 2014 My latest EHealthInsider article is out - http://lnkd.in/dEQ3zbS should we break up the… LinkedIn An EHealthInsider column asks whether GP system suppliers should be broken up or whether GPSOC is the answer.
3 Sept 2013 Another View: Twenty Three A sceptical report from a Nuffield Trust predictive risk conference: admission-avoidance schemes lack proof, and richer GP data plus everyday screening tech might serve better.
24 Jun 2013 Suggestions please for quality interview questions to be used for appointing our new… LinkedIn Crowdsources favourite interview questions for appointing the CCG's new managerial IT lead.
3 Apr 2013 Our new CCG website www.southcheshireccg.nhs.uk has gone live. LinkedIn Details the new Health2works-built South Cheshire CCG website and its custom CMS, which he rates as the best-functioning CCG site in the country.
14 Mar 2013 Our new website for our provider venture FYS Healthcare is live today! LinkedIn Announces the launch of FYS Healthcare, a GP provider venture spanning over ten local practices and seeking CQC and CCG accreditation.
14 Feb 2013 Went to Florence demo this pm - think it can help us improve compliance and self care in… LinkedIn Reflects on a Florence telehealth demo and its potential to improve compliance and self-care in young asthmatics, a CCG target.
12 Feb 2013 really keen to beta test Qadmission from JHC(Qrisk) and EMIS if i can - should complement… LinkedIn Expresses eagerness to beta-test the QAdmission risk tool from JHC and EMIS, seeing it as a complement to the CCG's Eclipse system.
11 Oct 2012 Well done SCheshire CCG! LinkedIn Marks the CCG's authorisation visit cutting red-rated areas from 41 to seven, leaving only two substantive concerns to resolve.
18 Sept 2012 Another View: Twelve A wish list for NHSmail 2 prompted by quota lockouts and forced migration: instant messaging, screen sharing, central attachment storage and better delegation and security controls.
16 Sept 2012 Another View: Thirteen Drawing on network science, proposes visualising practice consultation patterns to identify effective consulters and using trusted 'broadcasters' to spread health messages.
15 Sept 2012 Local CCGs shared guidance on New Anticoagulants in AF published on our CCG website. LinkedIn
24 Jul 2012 Another View: Ten Argues CCGs should mix best-of-breed cloud tools like Huddle rather than build one giant website, and imagines clinical suppliers running an Apple-style app store for NHS software.
26 Jun 2012 Another View: Nine Reports from a regional NHS IT meeting: doubts about commissioning support services acting as monopoly IT providers, and praise for the PROMS 2.0 post-op follow-up tool.
24 Apr 2012 The CCG has noticed that a recent trend is to have live interviews on twitter. LinkedIn Asks whether live Twitter interviews, a trend the CCG has noticed, would be worth trying locally.
22 Apr 2012 anyone any experience of interviews online? LinkedIn Weighs Twitter, a chat room, Skype or a forum for running a public any-questions session for a CCG.
5 Apr 2012 Leighton Hospital are the first to use the CCG-Connect News Syndication feature to reach… LinkedIn
4 Apr 2012 For 3months we are going to push to the lmiits the syndication functionality in the… LinkedIn Describes a three-month push to syndicate news across South Cheshire CCG and practice websites to multiply readership, and seeks local stories.
28 Jan 2012 One of the projects our CCG endorses. LinkedIn
28 Jan 2012 A link to the CCG Connect page - for more info. LinkedIn
10 Jan 2012 Found this photo of local CCG team chaired by our very own Dr Andrew Wilson winning an… LinkedIn
17 Nov 2011 Our CCG (South Cheshire Health) www.southcheshirehealth.org.uk won the Patient Centred… LinkedIn South Cheshire Health CCG wins an HSJ Patient Centred Care award for a nursing home scheme cutting emergency admissions.
15 Dec 2008 2008: a year of two halves Microsoft NHS Resource Centre A month-by-month review of NHS IT in the first half of 2008, covering the Darzi review, data-security scandals, virtualisation and the looming credit crunch.
21 Sept 2008 Is your practice website good enough? GP magazine Argues that a practice website is becoming a marketing essential and poses challenging questions on signposting, openness about performance and findability.