Although email is now a very commonly-used method of communication, its use in health care is not yet routine. Email has been used for communication of clinical information between patients and healthcare professionals, but the effects of using email in this way are not known. In a recent review published by the Cochrane Collaboration, Helen Atherton and colleagues assessed the use of email for two-way clinical communication between patients and healthcare professionals. Atherton and colleagues concluded that the evidence was limited it was not possible to adequately assess the effect of email for clinical communication between patients professionals. They advised that future research should take into account the changing nature of technology when designing and conducting future studies and barriers to trial development and implementation should also be tackled. Potential outcomes of interest for future research include clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and use of health services.
NHS budgets are under considerable pressure. It is therefore unsurprising that many NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) In England will aim to prioritise price in contract awards, But this approach is a significant threat to community-centred healthcare. While competitive tendering is a legally required, an excessive focus on costs in awarding NHS contracts risks overshadowing key factors such as established community trust, local expertise, and the long-term impact on continuity of care. This shift towards cheaper, often external, commercial providers threatens to cut the links between communities and their local health services. The argument that competitive tendering is solely about legal compliance, and not cost, is undermined by the very nature of such tendering, which by design encourages the lowest bid. This approach risks eroding the social fabric of local healthcare provision, where established relationships and understanding of specific community needs are essential. Establishe...
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