Government delays action on obesity as ‘cost of living crisis’ threatens public health disaster   The government has come under fire for delaying measures to tackle obesity. The Department of Health and Social Care claimed the decision not to ban multi-buy deals and some advertising for foods high in fat, salt or sugar is a measure to address the ‘cost of living crisis’; but public health experts argued it should be focused on supporting access to high-quality food. UK inflation as measured by the consumer price index jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March, and is expected to pass 10% this year (BBC News). The governor of the Bank of England warned that things are going to get worse.   Andrew Bailey told MPs that he felt “helpless” in the face of inflationary pressures that include: the impact of Brexit; people leaving the labour market after the Covid-19 pandemic; supply-chain disruption caused by lockdowns in China; rocketing fuel costs propelled by the war in Ukraine; and what he described as “apocalyptic” food prices (Sky News). The Resolution Foundation has warned that without Treasury action 1.3 million people will be pushed into poverty this year. A study commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians has found this is already impacting health.     A YouGov poll for the RCP found 55% of respondents felt they are experiencing worse health as a result of the crisis, because of stress, being unable to health their homes or eat well, or travel for treatment. Inevitably, those in lower socio-economic groups were most likely to say they were feeling the effects. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said there is a clear danger that the cost of living crisis will widen the health inequalities exposed by the pandemic, and “concerted, collaborative action” at a national and local level is needed. The government has promised a health disparities white paper.

Trusts told to making savings, cut consultancy, scale back hospital plans NHS England has found £1.5 billion to help trusts cope with inflation and other cost pressures this year. However, the money will not cover the shortfall and providers have also been told to make additional savings to bring their budgets into balance (Health Service Journal). This is likely to be bad news for IT, as “back office” functions and consultancy are usually first in line for budget re-directs and cuts. NHS trusts in the ‘pathfinder’ tranche of the government’s new hospitals programme will also receive far less money than expected this year, making it even less likely the ’40 new hospitals’ will be delivered (HSJ).

Least digitised trusts ‘to be prioritised for funding’ The NHS England transformation directorate, which absorbed NHSX, looks to be following up on the determination of its director, Tim Ferris, to finally digitise acute trusts (Highland Marketing analysis). Digitalhealth.net editor Jon Hoeksma reported this week that English trusts have been divided into four groups according to their digital maturity and will be differentially funded to get everyone to HIMSS Level-5. Hoeksma says 25 trusts are in ‘group zero’ with no EPR at all, and a further 20 are in ‘group one’ and procuring or implementing. A much larger group of 128 trusts are more or less there, and 40 trusts are in ‘group three’ and over the line.

Ortus-iHealth chosen for London Cardiac Remote Monitoring Programme Thousands of Londoners with heart conditions are going to receive better care, thanks to a London Cardiac Remote Monitoring Programme that will be supported by technology from Ortus-iHealth. Health Tech World reported that the programme has been commissioned on behalf of the South and North London Cardiac Operational Delivery Networks and will enable the eight tertiary heart centres in the capital to adopt the Ortus platform developed by Dr Debashish Das, a consultant cardiologist at Barts Health NHS Trust. This enables patients to send data to a virtual ward dashboard monitored by their clinical team, who can offer help and advice by message, video consultation, or appointment.

EPR news: Surrey Safe Care goes live as Barnsley rolls-out e-prescribing Two trusts in Surrey have launched a new electronic patient record system from Cerner. Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust will use the system, known locally as Surrey Safe Care, to share information and join up pathways. The project was part-funded by the NHS Digital Aspirants programme (Health Tech Newspaper). Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has continued its roll-out of System C CareFlow with the deployment of CareFlow Medicines Management. Staff working in adult inpatient areas can now complete drug charts, ward rounds, medicines administration and discharge plans electronically (digitalhealth.net).

Health IT news: Single waiting list for Mid and South Essex; new LIMS for Lancashire and South Cumbria; new family portal from Solent NHS Trust Mid and South Essex Care Partnership integrated care system has deployed a patient tracking list linked to referral to treatment time targets to keep track of people waiting for treatment and support its elective recovery programme. The single waiting list is hosted on its Insource data management platform (digitalhealth.net). Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS pathology services is planning to deploy the Evolution vLab laboratory information management system from Citadel Health (digitalhealth.net). Solent NHS Trust has created a portal for anyone expecting a child or living with a child under the age of two. People can sign up for Family Assist Solent to be sent advice via email (digitalhealth.net).