Healthcare Roundup

Seven days in the NHS and health IT

Damning first report into government handling of Covid-19

Two House of Commons committees have published a report into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis. The Health and Social Care Committee and the Science and Technology Committee say “the initial response to the crisis exposed some major deficiencies in the machinery of government” and criticise both the scientific advice given to ministers and their response to it. In particular, they say England locked down too late and the decision to stop community testing in spring 2020 was a serious error. The report also criticises the subsequent test and trace operation “which failed in its stated objective to prevent further lockdowns despite vast quantities of taxpayers’ money.”

The report further notes that the crisis exposed underlying inequalities, with deprived areas, BAME members of the community, and those working in ‘essential’ jobs hard hit. However, it acknowledges that “there were important areas where the UK’s pandemic performance outperformed other countries” including the vaccine rollout. There has been no response from prime minister Boris Johnson, who is on holiday (iNews). New health and social care secretary Sajid Javid told Radio 4’s Today programme that he’d wait for the promised public inquiry. His predecessor, Matt Hancock, has just been appointed as a UN special representative for economic development in Africa (The Guardian).

CMO warns of “exceptionally difficult winter” against backdrop of record September

Chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty has warned the NHS is in for an “exceptionally difficult winter”, even if there are only “low levels” of Covid-19, because of the resurgence of flu, a rise in respiratory infections, and the “usual pressures on cardiovascular services, slips and trips” (The Guardian). Covid-19 cases are, in fact, increasing. There have now been 138,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. Meanwhile, the waiting list has gone up to another record level, 5.7 million, despite the NHS having its busiest ever month, with record numbers seen in A&E and record numbers of ambulance trips (The Guardian).

NHS England tells GPs to ditch digital first primary care: even if patients prefer it

NHS England has published what it calls a ‘blueprint for improving access to GP appointments’ alongside a £250 million ‘winter access fund’ to boost face to face appointments. A press release says the money will “fund locums and support from other health professionals” to increase capacity to make this possible. Ministers tried to avoid putting a figure on the percentage of appointments they want delivered face to face, but the guidance says: “less than 20%... is likely to be contrary to good clinical practice, even if it were to reflect the preference of patients.”

The Daily Mail hailed the move as a victory for its campaign on the issue, adding that there would be “league tables and hit squads for those that fail to deliver.” But the British Medical Association said the package was flawed and “we need a more intelligent conversation about the variety of appointments and care that are available to patients to meet their needs.” In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, primary care moved rapidly to virtual consultations and many health tech firms hoped innovation would continue. This seems unlikely to be the case; although the package does include a commitment to roll-out cloud-based telephony.

Hospital news: Midland Met hospital delayed, again; Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells deploys EPR

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust’s plans to open a new acute hospital have been delayed again, this time by a shortage of materials and workforce. The Midland Metropolitan University Hospital is the first of the government’s “40 new hospitals” – although construction has been ongoing for a decade, and hard hit by the collapse of contractor Carillion (Health Service Journal). Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has deployed an electronic patient record from Allscripts. Digitalhealth.net reported that the deployment of Sunrise is reducing paper-based processes. The move is also supporting information sharing with neighbouring trusts that use the system.

Burton Hospital to deploy ExtraMed patient flow technology

Queen’s Hospital in Burton is to deploy the ExtraMed Patient Flow system that is already used at the Royal Derby Hospital, which is part of the same trust, Healthcare Newsdesk has reported. University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust says the move will replace manual processes and white boards and give everybody from ward staff to senior hospital leaders visibility of a patient’s status. This should improve care, reduce delayed discharges, and help the hospital to identify available beds faster. ExtraMed is part of the Alcidion Group, which is also known in the UK for its Miya Precision, Patientrack, and Smartpage solutions.

One Epic to rule them all?

Analysis

In the first week of October, digitalhealth.net published an interesting op-ed, asking whether England could be thinking of doing an all-NHS deal for the Epic electronic patient record. Lyn Whitfield asks whether it would be possible, and what the implications – and alternatives – might be.