Healthcare Roundup

Seven days in the NHS and health IT

NHS Confed Expo news: Matthew Taylor calls for political support

NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor warned health and social care leaders attending NHS Confed Expo in Liverpool that they cannot ignore mounting think-tank and media attacks on the NHS, and urged politicians to resist the temptation to use the service as a “political football” as it gets on top of an elective waiting list that this week reached 6.5 million (The Guardian). Taylor argued there was a “bright future” for the NHS, built around the latest reform agenda of integrated care, personalised care, and tackling inequalities. But it would need support to “bridge the gap” between where it is now and where it wants to go (speech on NHS Confederation website).

NHS Confed Expo news: Javid rejects calls for more funding

Taylor (above) also said the NHS Confederation would work to secure a long-term funding settlement for the NHS at or near the average, real terms, annual increase it has seen since it was founded of around 4% a year. However, speaking before Taylor at NHS Confed Expo, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said this would not happen. He told the event that the NHS already consumes 44% of government spending, and “we cannot have that increasing to more than 50%” because “it is not sustainable.” He said the NHS should be looking to improve productivity and focus on prevention to reduce demand, instead (speech on DHSC website).

Health news: Javid flags action on “underperforming trusts”; NHS England reviews bed base and plans for winter; and Scotland heads for tension over pay

Javid (above) also indicated that he wants to follow-up on the Messenger review of NHS leadership by making it easier for top managers to lead struggling trusts, and that he would like “underperforming trusts” to become part of “reform partnerships” (Health Service Journal). Meanwhile, in her speech to NHS Confed Expo, NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard indicated that the drive to reduce hospital beds has gone too far, and there is a need to “right size” capacity, using both physical and virtual wards. She also described the current pressure on A&E and ambulance services as “unacceptable” and as bad as anything seen in winter, pre-Covid.

Looking ahead to winter, she warned trusts it is unlikely there will be significantly more social care capacity available to improve flow this year. She said NHS England is working on an emergency care strategy to try and help (HSJ). Meanwhile, the NHS in Scotland looks to be heading for a dispute over pay. Health secretary Humza Yousaf has put forward what he described as a “record pay deal” that would give 160,000 frontline staff a rise of between £1,000 and £2,400 per year. However, Unison has said it is not enough because it is “significantly less than inflation” (The Courier).

Highland Marketing was at NHS Confed Expo this week. Watch out for a write-up of the keynote sessions in the Healthcare Roundup next week.

NHS data strategy published

The Department of Health and Social Care has published the final version of the new NHS data strategy, ‘Data saves lives’. In a news release, the DHSC flags the highlights as giving researchers access to secure data environments while giving patients “power over how data is used, including simplified opt-out processes.” Patients are also promised “greater access” to GP records through the NHS App. The principles behind the data strategy are: improving trust, giving health and care professionals the data they need to deliver care, improving adult social care data, supporting local decision makers, empowering researchers, working with partners and developing the right technical infrastructure.

Homerton Healthcare signs for Sectra One Cloud

Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has signed a deal with Sectra to deliver its enterprise imaging as a fully managed cloud service. Digitalhealth.net reports that the move will enable Homerton clinicians to access the content and tools required to organise, prioritise and streamline their workflows from a single application, to deliver faster and more efficient diagnostics. The move will also make it easier for Homerton Healthcare to collaborate with other trusts using the same system. Sectra One Cloud will be deployed as a subscription cloud service for radiology and orthopaedics and will be delivered through the Microsoft Azure public cloud.

Northern Care Alliance sets up 500 bed virtual ward with Dignio

The NHS Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust is to set up one of the UK’s biggest virtual wards, digitalhealth.net has reported. The project will cover a large part of Greater Manchester and monitor more than 500 patients with a number of medical conditions in their own homes. Technology will be provided by Norwegian company Dignio, which provided the technology for a successful pilot in Salford. Ewa Truchanowicz, the managing director of Dignio, has argued on digitalhealth.net that national thinking on virtual wards is maturing, as local projects mature, and the technology required is maturing with it.

Health IT news: TPP captures ‘about me’ standard; VAR Healthcare joins the Leeds Innovation Pop Up; Somerset aims to spot liver disease

The latest update of TPP SystmOne will enable primary care teams to record the information required for the Professional Record Standards Body’s ‘about me’ standard, which captures information important to a patient, digitalhealth.net has reported. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is to pilot online knowledge and decision support systems from VAR Healthcare, a Norwegian firm that has joined the trust’s Innovation Pop Up, the Health Tech Newspaper has reported. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has launched a research project to develop a search engine to enable GPs and clinicians to identify people who may be at risk of liver disease, but who display no symptoms, the HTN has reported.

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.