Healthcare Roundup

Seven days in the NHS and health IT

England health news: dire warnings on bed numbers and pay

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has blamed a “huge loss” of beds for the delays being seen in A&E departments and ambulance services across the UK (The Guardian). The college says 25,000 beds were removed from the NHS between 2010-11, leaving it with just 162,000 beds, or 2.42 beds per 1,000 people, the second lowest proportion in Europe. It argues that this has led to “unsafe” bed occupancy levels, increasingly “grim” emergency waiting times, and growing waiting lists. It says at least 13,000 beds are needed to create “meaningful change and improvement” and 4,500 of them need to be in place before the winter.

In response, the NHS Confederation said staffing new beds would be a significant challenge and the government should put more cash into social care, so beds are not occupied by patients who are medically fit for discharge. Separately, the Confed has urged the government to give low-paid health staff a higher pay rise to help them address the cost of living crisis and prevent an exodus to other employers. The Confed points out that many supermarkets, stores and hospitality venues pay £10 per hour – 35p per hour more than the starting salary for band 2 staff.

Financial challenges for Scottish Government and NHS

NHS Highland is facing a financial shortfall of more than £42 million, local media has reported. The health board is operating under special measures but pay, inflation, the ongoing costs of Covid-19 and Scotland’s remobilisation programme have contributed to the gap. NHS Highland is unlikely to be the only board in trouble, but the Scottish Government has told boards that “further funding will not be forthcoming.” The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned the Scottish Government has a whole could be facing a £3.5 billion black hole” because of changes to its block grant, low tax take, and relatively high spending (STV News).

Wales health news: about Covid-19, the NHS Executive, and climate change

Wales has finally brought its Covid-19 control measures to an end. First minister Mark Drakeford allowed the regulations to expire on Monday, 30 May; although the Welsh Government has urged people to continue to take simple, sensible precautions such as wearing face masks in health settings. Wales is also setting up an NHS Executive as a small team within the Welsh Government. The Royal College of Physicians Cymru has expressed disappointment with the decision; it was one of 20 organisations to call for a fully independent, single national body to oversee the NHS in Wales last year (North Wales Pioneer).

The Welsh Government insists the new team will strengthen national leadership, create a “more consistent and equitable approach” to planning, improve performance management, and improve accountability by making sure that healthcare services operate to a ‘mandate’ set by ministers. The Welsh Government is also putting £2.4 million into a Health and Social Care Climate Emergency National Programme to cut NHS carbon emissions by a third by 2030 (Business News Wales). NHS organisations will be able to bid for up to £60,000 in its first year to run small to medium sized climate change initiatives. Patients are being encouraged to switch to lower-emission inhalers.

Violence against GPs and staff ‘now commonplace’

Figures obtained by the British Medical Journal indicate that criminal acts of violence at GP surgeries have almost doubled in five-years, with police recording an average of three violent incidents per day. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the BMA, said recorded assaults, stalking and harassment were “the tip of the iceberg.” He blamed pent-up frustration caused by a lack of investment in general practice and the suggestion from some politicians and media outlets that it had closed and never re-opened after Covid. Dr Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the rising violence could make even more staff quit (The Guardian).

Greater Manchester IT crash ongoing

The IT issues affecting hospitals in Greater Manchester are ongoing. An update published on the Northern Care Alliance website says four hospitals that were run by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have experienced “disruption and instability” since 18 May, while diagnostics and pharmacy are affected at Salford Royal Hospital. The update says: “the trust’s digital IT team is working hard with relevant technology providers to resolve the issue” and a tweet on Monday says they are making: “good progress”. The problems led to the declaration of a major incident, as staff were unable to access clinical information or test results and had to revert to paper processes.

Health IT news: Digital clinic RCT; new Health Call contract; NHS TD opens Digital Health Partnership Awards; Alpahlake Ai opens intelligent automation competition

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is launching a randomised control trial of a digital clinic solution to see if it can create capacity and help to reduce waiting lists. Digitalhealth.net reported that the study will use the Sapien Health platform to create tailored programmes for hip and knee surgery patients, with a view to getting them fit for surgery and reducing recovery times. North East and North Cumbria integrated care system has renewed its contract with Health Call, an NHS-owned digital company. The Health Tech Newspaper reported that Health Call will supply 60 digital tools to trusts in the area to support new patient pathways and healthcare workers.

NHS organisations are being invited to apply for funding to support digital projects that can support patients at home. The third round of the Digital Health Partnership Award, which is now run by the NHS transformation directorate, has money for projects up to £100,000, £200,000 and £500,000 in value. Details on digitalhealth.net. Health and care professionals and organistions can also take part in two competitions being run by Alphalake Ai, with sponsorship from Workato. The competitions are looking for good ideas in AI and intelligent automation and the best will be implemented – free – by Alphalake. Details on its website. Closing date 27 June.

Health tech comms for tough, competitive times

Highland Marketing Blog

The NHS is emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic with limited resources to meet the huge pressure it is under. That’s focusing attention on national targets and upping the stakes for health tech companies with digital solutions to help deliver on them.

At times like this, effective sales, marketing and PR campaigns are essential. Highland Marketing co-founders Mark and Susan Venables have some pointers to offer.