Tag Archive for: NHS News

As of 31st March 2024, NHS CIS2 will no longer work in IE11 and Edge “IE Mode”/in /by

In line with NHS England standards for web-based products, you will find that NHS CIS2 does not work if you try access it using Internet Explorer after 31 March 2024.  

This includes:

  • Apply for Care ID
  • Care Identity Management
  • Care Identity Authentication

Using unsupported systems makes your organisation more vulnerable to cyber security threats and makes it more likely that you’ll experience performance or reliability issues.

It is the responsibility of individual organisations to make sure their teams are using supported products.  

If you use NHS CIS2 for your work

You may need to contact your local IT service desk to find out more about your organisation’s plan to switch off Internet Explorer and to ensure continued access to our services. 

If you are responsible for managing IT in a health or care organisation

You should make sure you have a plan in place to withdraw Internet Explorer from your IT estate and install NHS Credential Management (HSCN connection required) for any users who require access to national NHS systems which require authentication.   

Some alternative options are:

  • Use IE11 for the apps that require it, allow users to have a second user-agent (e.g. Edgium/Chromium) for other applications. 
  • If “IE Mode” is being used, then only enable “IE Mode” for the applications that require it

If you can’t move off of IE11 by 31 March 2024, you need to contact us to discuss your situation.

Contact us by email on nhscareidentityauthentication@nhs.net.

Include details about your Organisation, IT contacts and reasons why you feel you cannot switch from IE11 / IE Mode.

 

Consultation launched on sharing data from private healthcare providers with NHS/in /by

Plans to create a single source of healthcare data in England to improve the quality of care for patients are the focus of a consultation which is part of the Acute Data Alignment Programme (ADAPt).

The programme would result in NHS-funded and private healthcare activity data being available in one place for the first time, offering a more comprehensive insight into the quality of treatment and care across both the NHS and private healthcare settings.

The consultation, which is open until 20 April 2023, comes after the Paterson Inquiry recommended bringing data on all consultant activity together in the same place. This followed the conviction of breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson for performing harmful and unnecessary surgery on patients across both NHS and private settings.

The Acute Data Alignment Programme (ADAPt) was set up in 2018 as a joint initiative between NHS Digital – now part of NHS England – and the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN).

Pilot projects have shown that private providers are able to submit admitted patient care data directly to the NHS and that this has a number of benefits, especially where data on private hospital activity can be linked to information on NHS-funded care. This can provide insights such as the number of emergency readmissions following discharge from a private provider.

The public consultation sets out the details of how private healthcare hospital activity data will be collected and processed by NHS England, which merged with NHS Digital earlier this year.

James Austin, Director of Data Strategy and Policy at NHS England, said: “NHS data already plays an important role in how we provide high quality patient care and monitor safety reporting systems across the NHS.

“This vision of a single repository of healthcare information, combining NHS and private healthcare, will help provide better insights and lead to improved care and treatment for all patients across both the NHS and private healthcare sectors.

“Working jointly on the ADAPt programme has enabled us to see the benefits of how this might work. We’d now like to invite healthcare professionals, patient groups and individuals to share their views by responding to the consultation.”

A range of views are being sought, particularly on the use and benefits of combining NHS and private activity data within NHS centralised reporting systems.

People have until 20 April to respond to the consultation, by either completing an online questionnaire on the NHS England Digital Consultation Hub or emailing their comments to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, and stating ADAPt Consultation in the subject line.

Respond to the consultation

Collection of Private Healthcare activity data by NHS England

Registration Authority emergency guidance – temporary extension/in /by

We recently announced that the emergency guidance was to end on 31 March 2023. However due to user feedback and a delay in deploying digital proof of address components in the Apply for Care ID service, we have taken the decision to extend this until 31 May 2023.

This will give Registration Authorities the chance to implement any changes necessary to move from the emergency guidance to the Apply for Care ID service in June. Those Registration Authorities that choose to conduct face to face checks will, of course, be free to continue this for ID verification. 

If you have any queries about this, contact iamplatforms@nhs.net.

For action: Easter bank holiday hours in NHS Profile Manager/in /by

Please verify your information on NHS Profile Manager by Friday 31 March. You can do this on your smartphone, desktop or tablet.

This is important as all community pharmacy Directory of Service (DoS) and NHS website profiles will automatically be set to show as closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Bank holiday Monday, unless opening times are specified.

Your profile information on NHS Profile Manager needs to be correct so that NHS staff, patients and the public can access accurate contact information, opening times, facilities, and services.

Sign in to NHS Profile Manager or to get help, view our tutorial video (found in the drop-down section under ‘community pharmacy’).

You can read more about your obligations for the NHS website and the DoS on The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee website.

You can contact the NHS website service desk if you have any questions.

For action: Changes to how referrals to the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service are received/in /by

23 March 2023: In a previous version of this message we asked community pharmacies to update their email addresses and CPCS status in NHS Profile Manager.

Community pharmacies do not need to update these details in NHS Profile Manager. Referrals from Pharmrefer will automatically be directed to the pharmacies’ nhs.net shared mailbox. Please continue to monitor this inbox regularly so referrals are responded to accordingly.

The way Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) referrals are sent by the EMIS PharmRefer product is changing.

From 28 March, community pharmacies that are using CPCS solutions from Cegedim Healthcare, Positive Solutions or Sonar Informatics will no longer be able to access their CPCS referrals through PharmOutcomes. Instead, referrals from GPs and the emergency departments or urgent treatment centre pilot sites using Pharmrefer will arrive into community pharmacies’ NHS shared mailbox accounts. If this applies to you, you must tell your staff about the changes and update your standard operating procedures to ensure your NHS shared mailboxes are monitored and referrals are picked up.

Community pharmacies using PharmOutcomes for their CPCS service will continue to receive referrals in their usual way.

The PharmRefer product is also being updated to allow the referrer to select any community pharmacy that is listed as offering CPCS in the Directory of Services.

NHS England has assured 4 IT system suppliers to support the CPCS service. The NHS CPCS IT Buyer’s Guide (opens in Word) provides further information about them. They are:

  1. Pharmacy Services (Cegedim Healthcare Solutions)

  2. PharmOutcomes (Pinnacle Health)

  3. HxConsult (Positive Solutions)

  4. Sonar

We are working with all our suppliers to develop the functionality that will enable each IT system to integrate CPCS referrals to improve the referral pathways into community pharmacies.

Event: API Management online roadshow/in /by

Join us on 23 March at 2.30pm for a non-technical webinar to learn about NHS England Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and why they are important for health and social care technology. Register for the webinar.

Additional information for digital leaders – March 2023/in /by

The demand for bandwidth from NHS organisations is increasing by around 30% each year. Tailored support and funding is available from the Gigabit Pathway team to help ensure your organisation gets the right connectivity, when it needs it, in the most efficient way. Find out more or email nhsdigital.future.connectivity@nhs.net.

Join us on 23 March from 2.30 to 3.30pm for a non-technical webinar to learn about NHS England Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and why they are important for health and social care technology. Register for the webinar.

The NHS Cloud Community is now open and welcoming new members. It provides a new way to support cloud adoption across the NHS by allowing all NHS organisations to:

  • connect with like-minded peers in different phases of their cloud journey
  • benefit from peer support and expertise
  • view case studies, supplier presentations and other helpful materials from colleagues

Join the community (FutureNHS account needed).

Read how moving to the cloud provided Kettering General Hospital with a more flexible way to procure their infrastructure and scale up services to meet demand, as well as help to increase stability.

Help improve and develop FHIR UK CORE/in /by

The use of FHIR UK CORE is a key interoperability requirement and enables systems to integrate with the wider healthcare landscape.  To help with the development of FHIR we are currently undertaking Sprint 6 of the Clinical and Technical Assurance process and are now reviewing use cases and proposed changes for pathology, genomics and Welsh diagnostics.

We would like more system users to get involved in the Sprint to ensure it addresses the needs of the system.

Find out more about the sprint and register by emailing interoperabilityteam@nhs.net. This sprint will close on 20 March 2023.

Additional information for GP practice managers – March 2023/in /by

Support for switching on access to GP records

1 in 5 practices have now given their patients online access to new entries in their patient records.

You can join NHS England and the Patients Association on 16 March (12-1pm) for a webinar about the patient impact of online access.

We offer training sessions, videos, and detailed guidance to help everybody in your practice understand this change and get ready for it. There is also a toolkit of materials to explain the new access to patients, including a patient-facing video about online access. 

 

Further information about Register with a GP surgery service

Recent improvements to the Register with a GP surgery online service include:

  • revised alcohol and smoking questions to improve patient information at point of registration
  • an option for patients to nominate their chosen pharmacy

We are planning to add more features and integrate the service with the NHS App later this year. See our roadmap for more details.

The Register with a GP surgery service is now live with almost 650 practices and has been shown to reduce the time it takes administrative staff to register new patients by up to 15 minutes per registration.

GP practices can begin using the service by self-enrolling or by contacting the dedicated support team. Further information can also be found on the resource hub.

 

Help available to improve your future connectivity

Demand for internet (including HSCN) bandwidth is increasing by 30% a year. It is important you take action so your practice can continue to support the provision of remote care and monitoring in the future and upgrade services as part of digital transformation.

Tailored support and funding is available from the Gigabit Pathway team to help general practices get the right connectivity in the most efficient way. Find out more or email contact your integrated care board IT lead.

 

Help us improve the NHS App – patients’ test results

We are looking to understand more about the queries the practice receives from patients regarding test results and how or if patients are notified of their test results. 

To help out with this project, we would like GP staff who, as part of their work, either answer patient queries regarding test results and/or notify patients of their test results, please fill in this 5-minute anonymous survey. 

 

Event: NHS ConfedExpo 2023

This year’s NHS ConfedExpo will take place on 14 and 15 June at Manchester Central. The event will bring together health and care leaders and their teams from across the sector for 2 days of inspiring sessions, shared learning, and valuable networking opportunities.     

NHS, local authority and wider public sector staff are eligible for a free ticket. Book your pass and follow @ConfedExpo on Twitter for the latest updates.

 

 

For action: Prepare for multifactor authentication/in /by

Multifactor authentication (MFA) will be enabled for all NHSmail user accounts on 30 June 2023. We are encouraging organisations to begin planning their local roll-out of MFA.

There is a MFA Adoption Toolkit to help guide you through the process. Guidance for both users and local administrators is also available.

If you need any further support that the MFA Adoption Toolkit or guidance does not cover, you can contact helpdesk@nhs.net.