IPPR calls for national mission to improve health and prosperity  The Institute for Public Policy Research has published the first paper from its Commission on Health and Prosperity and warned that rising levels of poverty and ill health are harming economic prosperity to the tune of around £43 billion a year – or 2% of GDP. It says the burden of disease could be reduced through a focus on prevention, faster access to better treatment, and workplace adaptations, if there was the “willingness” and “capacity” in government. It suggests a Health and Prosperity Act with an ambitious “mission” to make the UK “the healthiest country in the world” within 30-years could help to drive change.

ADASS calls for change in sector ‘close to breaking point’  The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has called for reform of the social care sector in England, warning it is “close to breaking point.” In a report released to coincide with its spring conference, the ADASS says there is a “consensus on what sort of care and support system we need, but for decades no political or collective will to make it happen.” It then lists ten things that need to be done over the next two, five, and ten years to: create better housing options for elderly and disabled people, improve pay and conditions for staff, reform funding and extend access, and embed change locally.

David Davis surfaces concerns about the Federated Data Platform Former cabinet minister David Davis, who led opposition to identity cards and “the database state” when David Cameron was prime minister, has told the Guardian there could be a “battle royale” over the £480 million federated data platform being tendered by NHS England. Specifically, he raised concerns about a bid by US firm, Palantir, which is widely expected to win because of its involvement in the Covid-19 data store and trust waiting list projects. Davis is leading a group of Parliamentarians asking questions about the use of patient data. These have revealed that 11 of the 30 trusts in the waiting list project have paused or suspended their involvement.

NHS Covid app shuts down  The NHS Covid contact tracing app closed on 27 April (Evening Standard). The app was launched in September 2020 as part of the NHS Test and Trace programme. But downloads have dwindled. The app – like NHS Test and Trace more generally – was widely seen as an expensive failure; even when it worked, many people stopped using its ‘check in’ features after receiving an excessive number of contact ‘pings’ telling them to self-isolate. However, the government claims that it averted one million Covid cases, 44,000 hospitalisations, and 9,600 deaths (fair-minded analysis of what can be learned by other health apps on The Conversation).

BT wins SWAN contract and launches virtual wards programme BT has secured a contract worth up to £350 million over the next six years to become the sole provider of connectivity services to the public sector in Scotland. The telecoms giant has won the Scottish Wide Area Network or SWAN contract, which will deliver more resilient and faster broadband and mobile connections to 6,000 schools, hospitals, GP surgeries, pharmacies, health board and government offices. BT has also launched a virtual ward and virtual care programme. It will be delivered through a mix of in-house development and partnerships, with Feebris and my mHealth identified as launch partners.

Health IT news: A roadmap has been published for the NHS.uk website with four objectives for 2023-4, the Health Tech Newspaper has reported. The roadmap includes modularising the site’s advice content so it can be used on the NHS App, improving access and self-assessment tools, and sorting out search. Meanwhile, Be Part of Research, an online service to recruit patients to trials that is run by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is now accessible through the NHS App. And Suffolk Primary Care has formed a partnership with long term conditions management start-up Aide Health to help patients manage asthma, use their inhalers properly, and stop over-use (digitalhealth.net).