Healthcare Roundup

All eyes were on the government as the King Charles III opened Parliament and the Treasury refused to fund the £1 billion cost of this year’s NHS strike action, forcing the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to find a funding injection for the frontline from waiting list and capital budgets.

Despite the raid, the plan to create a Federated Data Platform for the NHS appears to be on, and Palantir is expected to be the winner. Meanwhile, the first trust went live with an electronic patient record as part of Northern Ireland’s Encompass programme, and two trusts in the Black Country picked System C.

The government launched its scheme to encourage patients who are facing long waits to travel for treatment. Around 400,000 people, or 5% of the waiting list, could be eligible. Bob Wachter, the US digital doctor who produced a report on NHS IT for former health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt, told HSJ that progress has been slow and more central investment is needed.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak held an international summit on AI that triggered a number of announcements in the health space. The MHRA will create an AI-Airlock sandbox, and the DHSC will fund 64 trusts for chest x-ray AI to speed up the detection of lung cancer.

The Public Accounts Committee issued a report criticising a decline in NHS productivity and urging the government and NHS England to get a grip to recover urgent and emergency care services. Outgoing King’s Fund head Richard Murray warned that without an immediate injection of funding in the Autumn Statement the NHS might have its worst-ever winter, as Scotland published its winter preparation plans.

A trust in East Anglia became the latest to pick the Epic electronic patient record. And the Highland Marketing advisory board debated how to recruit and develop a digital workforce fit for the future.

There were some signs of movement on the doctor strikes that have afflicted the health service in England over the summer. Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party became the latest to pledge more money for the health service at its annual party conference, as the Welsh Government raided other budgets to put additional funding into its NHS and rail services.

In health tech news, the well-established OneLondon shared care record reported that it is linking into neighbouring record systems, to support patients who travel into the capital for treatment. And three trusts digitised their maternity journeys with Badger Notes.

It was the turn of the Labour Party to hold its annual conference. Leader Sir Keir Starmer promised to spend £1.1 billion on another 2 million operations, scans and elective appointments a year, and £171 million on a Fit for the Future Fund to double the number of diagnostic scanners in use across the NHS and increase the use of AI.

NHS England announced that it met its target to have 10,000 virtual ward beds in place by the end of September. Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust signed a deal with Sectra to deploy its enterprise imaging solution, becoming the sixth trust in its region to do so.

The Conservative Party conference led to an unexpected, phased ban on smoking and the launch of another, £30 million health tech competition. Integrated care systems will be invited to bid for projects using innovative technology ranging from virtual wards to 3D scanning and drones.

NHS England announced a public consultation on the use of data and the new Federated Data Platform, amid renewed speculation that the FDP contract is likely to be awarded to Palantir shortly. And amid a flurry of company announcements, C2-Ai announced the formal launch of Precisia Life Sciences to bring data insights to bear on the development of medicines to address population health issues and under-served patients.

With the party conference season getting underway, attention moved off NHS waiting lists and strikes. However, the Nuffield Trust published a report highlighting the large numbers of medical and nursing students who never finish their degrees or start jobs in the NHS; a waste when vacancies are so high.

In EPR news, a big London trust prepared for its Epic go-live, as a huge Newcastle trust investigated why thousands of discharge summaries and letters have not been sent to GPs from its system. Meanwhile, the HETT conference and show took place in London, and we have a report.

Climate change was back on the political agenda, with London mayor Sadiq Khan warning about the impact of 45C temperatures “in the foreseeable future” and prime minister Rishi Sunak rowing back on net zero measures. Meanwhile, the NHS staffing crisis got worse, with consultants and junior doctors on strike and nurse recruitment down.

In health tech news, Oracle Health unveiled cloud-based developments for its Cerner Millennium electronic patient record, Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System announced an ICS-wide roll-out of C2-Ai’s high-impact waiting-list management initiative.

As the UK’s heatwave came to an end, attention turned to the coming winter. Ministers held a roundtable at Downing Street to discuss pressure on the NHS and how to maintain progress on waiting lists, while the Royal College of Emergency Medicine warned the system is “fragile.”

Meanwhile, the NHS Confederation in Wales called for a “national conversation” on the future of health and care in the country. While in health tech news, another London trust picked Oracle Health’s Cerner Millennium electronic patient record, and Cornwall’s integrated care system announced it is working with Strata Health’s PathWay’s referral platform.

The government was consumed by the fall out from the school’s reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete scandal. RAAC is also present in some hospitals, and NHS England has ordered trusts to review buildings and draw up evacuation plans.

In health tech news, The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust announced that it is working with Oracle Health to implement the Cerner Millennium electronic patient record by spring 2025. And Parsek shared its success in entering the NHS market with the support of Highland Marketing.

Most of the UK enjoyed a long, bank holiday weekend. But once the schools go back in September, the NHS and its technology suppliers will move into one of their busiest periods as they plan to execute government initiatives and prepare for winter.

That makes the coming week the perfect time to reflect on what has happened in NHS and digital policy since the start of the year. So, in place of our weekly newsletter, we have a summer special round-up of our best analysis, debates, PR, marketing and sales tips from the past six months to help you get ready to make the most of the opportunities ahead.

The week was dominated by the outcome and fall-out of the Lucy Letby case. The government immediately announced an inquiry into how the nurse was able to murder and attempt to murder babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, amid calls for the harder regulation of managers.

In health tech news, MEDITECH emerged as the winner of one of the most hotly contested electronic patient record tenders of recent years, for the three trusts in the Norfolk and Waveney Collaborative. Wales started testing its own electronic prescription service. And there were interesting developments in the virtual ward space.