Healthcare Roundup

Seven days in the NHS and health IT

All change at the DHSC

Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership contest and was duly appointed as the UK’s new prime minister, with Boris Johnson leaving 10 Downing Street. The change-over led to big changes in the Cabinet. Therese Coffey, Truss’ longstanding friend and campaign manager, became deputy prime minister and health and social care secretary (Health Service Journal). Robert Jenrick, who started his career as a PPS to Truss, became health minister (HSJ). The rest of the large ministerial team is: Maria Caulfield, Maggie Throup, James Morris, Lord Kamall, Caroline Johnson, Will Quince and Neil O’Brien (Department of Health and Social Care website).

Therese Coffey lists her abcd priorities in the face of a huge agenda

New health and social care secretary Therese Coffey gave her first interview to the Radio 4 Today programme on Thursday. In it, she said she would focus on “delivery for patients” and on an “abcd” of priorities: ambulances, backlog, care, doctors and dentists (Daily Mail). Nurses immediately noticed that they were missing from her list: just as ballots are underway for strike action (Nursing Notes). While, in the Health Service Journal, deputy editor Dave West noted her focus on headline-grabbing, acute issues and wondered what it bodes for the integrated care system reforms with their remit to join-up services, address prevention, and tackle inequalities.

Think tanks noted that Coffey faces a massive task at the Department of Health and Social Care, where she is the third secretary of state since Matt Hancock resigned less than 15 months ago (BBC, June 2021). Interim chief executive Saffron Cordery said NHS Providers hoped she would “provide some much needed-stability and leadership” and “fight [healthcare’s] corner” in the face of “winter pressures, a soaring cost of living crisis, further waves of Covid-19, seasonal flu, and the very worrying possibility of industrial action by NHS staff over pay and conditions.”

Specifically, Cordery called for any emergency Budget to provide “a fully funded workforce plan” and address the effective cuts being made to trust finances by under-funded pay awards, rocketing fuel prices, and inflation. Over at the Nuffield Trust, researchers noted that Truss and Coffey will have their work cut out to deliver on the promises made in the last Conservative Party manifesto, which they are nominally committed to implementing. Pledges on “40 new hospitals”, a 29% uplift in NHS funding, 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 new doctors, 50 million more GP appointments, and reform of social care significantly off-track, or depend on Budget decisions.

Truss sets out energy cap plan in face of public health emergency

New prime minister Liz Truss has promised to free energy bills at an average of £2,500 per year for the next two years, with most of the eyewatering cost to be met through government borrowing (The Guardian). Truss also scrapped green levies and the ban on fracking. The measures will not help people who cannot afford the cap this winter, appear to undermine the government’s commitment to net zero, and leave tax payers with an uncapped liability for the future (Bloomberg); but they do nod towards concerns that uncapped rises, coupled with soaring food inflation, could lead to a public health emergency (The NHS Confederation).

Manchester live with Hive

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with its new electronic patient record. Digitalhealth.net reported that the trust went live with its Epic-based EPR, which it calls Hive, this week. The trust announced it had chosen Epic to replace legacy IT at the trusts that merged to form it in May 2020. The implementation comes with a patient portal, MyMFT. On the trust’s website, Dr Tim Ferris, NHS director of transformation and Epic fan, said the “bold project” would “revolutionise patient care and staff experience” and “demonstrate the transformative potential” of EPRs”. Also, that NHS England is “supporting many more hospitals… to follow in Manchester’s footsteps.”

Appointment news: for Dedalus Group, IMMJ Systems, Ascom UK, and C2-Ai

Rachel Dunscombe, the former chief executive of the NHS Digital Academy, has been appointed chief industry advisor at Dedalus Group (digitalhealth.net). Jon Pickering, a start-up founder, has joined IMMJ Systems as chief executive, and Paul McCann from KPMG has joined Ascom UK as managing director for the UK and Ireland (digitalhealth.net movers and shakers). Dr Mike Roberts, who has a background in emergency medicine and cardiothoracic surgery, and who has worked in both New Zealand and the UK in chief medical officer and medical director roles, as has been appointed as medical director, international at C2-Ai (Health Investor).

Is health tech boring? Not with the right communications…

Highland Marketing Blog

Highland Marketing co-founders Mark and Susan Venables have been working with health tech for a long time. Recently, they’ve seen signs that there’s a growing perception that this is a sector with limited appeal; something the right communications approaches can help to dispel.