Healthcare
Roundup
 
14 April 2022
 
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Seven days in the NHS and health IT
NHS
NHS faces ‘Christmas at Easter’
The NHS Confederation has called for a revamp of the government’s ‘living with Covid’ plan as the health and care system continues to struggle with the impact of high demand, an increase in Covid admissions, and staff sickness. Chief executive Matthew Taylor said the “brutal reality” is that “Easter in the NHS is as bad as any winter” but the government “seems to want to wash its hands of responsibility for what is occurring.” Taylor called for stronger measures to encourage the public to get booster vaccinations and to reduce the spread of the virus, including better ventilation, mask wearing, and isolating when sick.
 
He also called for “realism” on what the NHS can deliver given the situation and the erosion of last year’s funding settlement by Covid costs and inflation. Against this backdrop, Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said pressure on the NHS is now so severe that it is breaking its “basic agreement” with the public to treat patients who dial 999 with life-threatening conditions in a timely way (The Guardian). NHS England said this week that the NHS has delivered a million spring booster jabs in two weeks, and that “game changing” antivirals have been provided to 32,000 people outside hospitals since December.
Health IT
Goldacre publishes health data review
Ben Goldacre has published the findings of the independent review that he was asked to conduct into the use of data in the NHS. The Bennett professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford says the Covid-19 pandemic “demonstrated the huge value of health data” in planning and research and sets out 185 recommendations to build on its legacy. Proposals include: adopting trusted research environments as “secure virtual spaces for verified researchers to access health data”; encouraging “open working” with common analytics tools; and improving data analytics careers. The government will respond in a forthcoming health and social care data strategy.
Health IT
NHS Confederation sets out data vision
The NHS Confederation has published its own vision for the future of NHS IT and data, with a view to reporting back on its engagement with the Goldacre review and influencing the government’s strategy (above). The Confed says the first priority should be to sort out legacy IT because “we cannot support innovations for tomorrow’s solutions with yesterday’s mismatched equipment.” It also calls for action to improve interoperability and coding, to reduce the burden of administration and reporting, to streamline data access requests, and to rebuild public trust damaged by care.data, the #GPdatagrab, and data breaches.
Health IT
NHS Digital assesses environmental impact of NHS App
The NHS App is helping to reduce travel to GP practices, NHS Digital has claimed. In a release on its website, the agency says analysis suggests that around 200,000 appointments and repeat prescriptions that were arranged through the app between April and December last year would previously have been arranged through a GP surgery. It estimates that this is saving around 22,000 car journeys, 5,500 train and motorbike, and 4,100 bus and taxi journeys per month. The release adds that 26 million people have now downloaded the NHS App, and that 55 apps and e-health services can now be accessed via NHS Login, the service that underpins it.
Health IT
High-tech mobile health clinic launched to help homeless in London
NHS Digital has also announced that a high-tech mobile health clinic is being used to improve screening, testing and treatment for around 10,000 homeless and high-risk individuals in London. The Find and Treat van is being run out of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as part of the agency’s Future Wireless Project. It holds portable diagnostic equipment, including a mobile x-ray scanner, and advanced wireless and satellite communications. The clinic is being used to tackle a wide range of infections and chronic diseases, with a focus on TB, while also including Covid-19, Hepatitis B and C, HIV, STIs and heart conditions.
Health IT
Health IT news: ADAPt starts testing; Blackpool starts deployment of CCube EDMS; NHS Innovation Accelerator announces seventh cohort; Sheffield creates its own Wellbeing Accelerator; Doctrin deploys to East Midlands GPs  
NHS Digital has started the testing phase of a programme to collect data on privately funded care from independent hospitals. Health Tech World reports that the aim of the Acute Data Alignment Programme, or ADAPt, is to create a single, national dataset of public and private hospital information, to improve transparency, safety and service improvement. Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has started its deployment of its CCube Solutions electronic document and records management system. The Health Tech Newspaper has reported that the trust is procuring an electronic patient record that will be integrated with the EDMS.
 
The NHS Innovation Accelerator has announced the 10 innovators who will receive support this year. The seventh cohort includes decision support and patient support apps (list on digitalhealth.net). Sheffield Hallam University has welcomed 12 health tech businesses onto its Wellbeing Accelerator programme. Health Tech World reports they will receive up to £20,000 to bring new health products and services to market. The Lakeside Healthcare Partnership, a group of GPs in the East Midlands, has rolled out a new digital assessment platform from Doctrin. Digitalhealth.net has reported that the move will allow patients to be triaged and directed to the right service.
Health IT
Movers and shakers: all change for national CCIO Simon Eccles and System C co-founders Marcus Bolton and Ian Denley (plus new System C chief executive Nick Wilson) 
A number of prominent health tech leaders have announced job moves ahead of the Easter break. Simon Eccles is standing down as national chief clinical information officer at NHS England and Improvement, 17-years after he started work on the National Programme for IT and four-years after he started his current role. Digitalhealth.net reported that he is returning to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, from where he was officially seconded. The Health Service Journal reported the move is part of a wider shake-up of NHSX staff triggered by the agency moving to the NHS England transformation directorate.  
 
Marcus Bolton and Ian Denley are stepping back from their roles as joint chief executive of System C, and Nick Wilson, the former chief executive at Allocate Software, is taking over. Digitalhealth.net reported that Bolton and Denley, the joint founders of System C, will still be non-executive directors. System C is a UK electronic patient record provider that will turn 40 next year. Finally, the founder and chief executive of Sensyne Health, Lord Paul Drayson, is stepping down, after securing funding to allow the company to continue trading. Digitalhealth.net reported that Alex Snow will take over at the research data company.
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.
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