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.

The government announced that 30 trusts will get a share of £250 million to create new beds, A&E and assessment spaces this winter. While NHS England issued detailed guidance on the technology that integrated care systems should be looking for to set up system co-ordination centres and virtual wards.

North West London University Healthcare NHS Trust is due to go-live with Cerner Millennium today, UnitedHealth is a step closer to buying EMIS, and the big cloud providers made some significant investments in platforms for EPRs and imaging.