Strikes continue in England, as Scottish and Welsh governments negotiate The biggest strike in NHS history took place on Monday, as thousands of English nurses and ambulance staff staged stoppages. In response, prime minister Rishi Sunak suggested staff should abandon their campaigns for higher pay rises this year, and focus on 2023-4. The GMB’s national secretary, Rachel Harrison, described this as “deluded” (The Guardian). Physiotherapists also struck on Thursday. However, unions in Wales called off planned action after receiving an improved offer in the form of a one-off payment and strikes remain suspended in Scotland while negotiations continue. NHS Providers urged English ministers to follow their lead and re-open talks (BBC News).

Health news: Medtech strategy issued; surgical hub expansion planned The government has issued a medical technology strategy, saying it wants to make sure that all patients can get access to “safe, effective and innovative technology” to “help diagnose, treat and deliver care more quickly.” The Department of Health and Social Care spends around £10 billion a year on every kind of medtech from syringes and wheelchairs to ultra-modern imaging machines. NHS England has marked the first anniversary of its elective recovery plan by promising 37 new surgical hubs, the expansion of 10 existing hubs, and the creation of another 81 theatres, paid for through the targeted investment fund, or TIF.

NHS tech funding slashed National funding for NHS IT has been slashed to less than half of what was billed in the Autumn Statement, the Health Service Journal has reported. NHS England has clawed back more than £1 billion of the £2.1 billion promised for investment. Most of this was already slated for the Frontline Digitisation programme to get all trusts up to a basic level of digital maturity, and HSJ has been told it may now cover just ten EPRs. Hancock-era programmes, such as the AI Lab, may also go as NHS England looks to reduce its headcount by up to 40%.

NHS England asked for greater clarity on safeguarding data National data guardian Nicola Byrne has called for clarity from NHS England about how it will ensure there are strong safeguards on the use of health and care data, following its takeover of NHS Digital. In an interview with the Health Service Journal, Byrne said the takeover means that one organisation is now the custodian and the major user of it, and there should be clear and transparent safeguards on what is permitted. NHS England told the website it is working on guidance and there will be a new advisory group on data, with some independent members.

Shared care records expand The London Care Record has been extended to care homes, digitalhealth.net has reported. The website says records have been viewed around 1,500 times since a pilot programme involving 28 care homes was launched in December. Another well-known shared care record, the Care and Health Information Exchange in Hampshire, has created videos demonstrating how access can give care home staff and families access to vital information and save time that would otherwise be spent looking for it. CHIE’s neighbour, the Dorset Care Record, which also uses Orion Health technology, announced this week that it is starting to extend access to hospices (digitalhealth.net).

Health IT news: from Warrington and Halton, Cambridge, and The Christie  Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with an integration between its Dedalus electronic patient record and local GP systems, using NHS Digital’s GP Connect protocol, digitalhealth.net has reported. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has developed and deployed a cloud-based platform called LocANTs to enable consultants to remotely monitor babies at hospitals in Peterborough, Colchester and Ipswich (CUH website).  The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has deployed the CardMedic app to support communication between its clinicians and patients, including those who use sign language, or need information in easy-read format (digitalhealth.net).