Healthcare
Roundup
 
7 July 2023
 
Contact Us Twitter LinkedIn Send to colleague
Seven days in the NHS and health IT
NHS
NHS75 prompts reflection on the state of the service 
The NHS marked its 75th anniversary on Wednesday, prompting reflections on the state of the health service and its future. Dr Phil Banfield, the British Medical Association chairman of council, told its Annual Representative Meeting that the anniversary could be “a wake” unless the government stops “beating” staff and ups investment (The Independent). Andrew Neil was one of many right-wing commentators to argue that the government should look at other models for “reform” (Daily Mail), but Polly Toynbee argued public support for the founding principles of the NHS remains strong (The Guardian). Tory MP Sajid Javid called for a royal commission on the way forward (iNews).
 
To mark #NHS75, imaging expert and Highland Marketing advisory board member Rizwan Malik has been reflecting on the changes he has seen in the NHS and health tech over his career, and Highland Marketing chief executive Mark Venables has been considering the highs and lows of the adoption of digital. Read their thoughts at the foot of the newsletter.
NHS
Reaction to the NHS long-term workforce plan
Reaction has been coming in to the NHS long-term workforce plan that was published last week. The King’s Fund, which has just published analysis showing the NHS is “strikingly” short of clinical staff in comparison to other healthcare systems, welcomed the plan and NHS England’s commitment to updating it every two-years. However, it warned that the plan’s projections of how many staff will be needed “are likely to be based on ambitious productivity assumptions” and there will need to be “investment in buildings, technology and equipment” to deliver these. The Nuffield Trust said that “after years of drift” it was good to at least see “some real planning.”
 
But it warned the focus on expanding education “carried some risk” of diverting senior staff from clearing the backlog to overseeing students. It also noted that without a focus on retention “we could feed more and more people into training only to burn them out faster.” Doctors also worried about supervision, plans to cut the length of medical degrees, and retention. The British Medical Association said: “Without pay restoration, it is going to be like trying to fill a leaking bucket, because new doctors will feel undervalued and leave.” However, the Royal College of Nursing reacted with “cautious optimism” to “the focus around growth in domestic workforce.”
NHS
Healthcare news: Confed calls for social care workforce plan; NHS England looks for improvement leaders; big investment in gambling addiction clinics
The NHS Confederation said it “strongly welcomed” the NHS long-term workforce plan (above) but has written to the prime minister to call for a matching plan to boost recruitment and retention in social care. NHS England is looking for a senior team to lead its new ‘national improvement board’, which will focus on “a small number of shared, national priorities” to try and achieve change (Health Service Journal). NHS England is also going to open another seven gambling addiction clinics this summer. More than 1,400 patients were referred to existing clinics last year. 
Health IT
NHS England announces 6+1 digital priorities
NHS England has given integrated care boards and trusts a list of seven short-term digital priorities, according to digitalhealth.net. Editor Jon Hoeksma reported that the 6+1 priorities were issued in June and are: putting smart system control systems in place, rolling-out electronic bed and capacity management, deploying electronic patient record systems, optimising waiting lists, implementing dynamic discharge tools, layering-in AI diagnostic support, and (the plus one) rolling-out patient portals. Paul Jones, vice-chair of the CIO Network, said EPRs were a big undertaking; while the other priorities suggest the centre thinks there are “one size fits all” digital solutions to complex problems.
Health IT
NHS signs £775 million deal with Microsoft
NHS England has also signed a £775 million deal with Bytes Software Services for core Microsoft products and software over the next five-years. The deal replaces national contracts for Windows, which started in 2018, and Office365, which ran over the pandemic, and will give NHS organisations access to “collaboration products, operating systems, and related security components” more cheaply than if they conducted their own negotiations with the company. However, digitalhealth.net has reported that all 42 integrated care boards will have to find up to £500,000 of their own to pay for elements of the deal.
Health IT
Market engagement opens for NHS Digital Health Check
A market engagement exercise is underway for tools to deliver an NHS Digital Health Check. The Department of Health and Social Care announced last week that a digital version of the ‘mid-life MOT’ will be launched in the spring to pick up conditions such as obesity and hypertension. The Health Tech Newspaper reported that the DHSC will launch a tender for solutions to deliver the check worth up to £10 million this autumn. Broadly, the idea is to collect information from patients on height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, using a mix of digital questionnaires and tests conducted at home, on the high street, and at GP practices.
Health AI
AI news: NHS England plans expert group; RCR creates AI registry; CUH uses OSAIRIS AI in radiotherapy
NHS England is planning to set up an expert group to work out where artificial intelligence can be put to best use in the health service, UK Authority has reported. The Royal College of Radiologists is creating an AI registry for imaging, to improve transparency and enable NHS sites to find out what is available (Health Tech Newspaper). Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been using an AI tool called OSAIRIS to reduce the preparation time for radiotherapy for prostate, head and neck cancers. The tool can be used to outline the organs so healthy tissue can be protected from radiation (Health Tech Newspaper).
NHS75: The future is here, it just needs to be evenly distributed
Highland Marketing Blog
Mark Venables, chief executive of Highland Marketing, argues the NHS’ struggles to adopt EPRs has disguised success in other areas, and now’s the time to level up innovation.
NHS 75: The impact and future role of healthcare technology
Analysis
As the NHS celebrates its 75th anniversary, Dr Rizwan Malik, consultant NHS radiologist & director of SMR Health Tech Consultancy and member of the Highland Marketing advisory board, reflects on the impact of IT on the health service and his own speciality of radiology. He also considers how digital technology can help to address the challenges that the health service faces, as it looks forward.
Copyright © 2023 Highland Marketing Ltd. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email due to subscribing to our update list.
View our disclaimer and copyrights, and privacy policy.

Our mailing address is:
Highland Marketing Ltd
20 St Dunstan's Hill
London, EC3R 8HL
United Kingdom

Add us to your address book

Unsubscribe from this list