Industry news in brief

This month’s industry round-up features news NHS Digital is rolling out electronic notifications from community pharmacies, and a northern digital health accelerator is open for applications.

NHS Digital rolls out community pharmacy electronic notifications

NHS Digital is rolling out electronic notifications which inform GPs when one of their patients receives an urgent supply of medicine from a community pharmacy.

The two largest GP systems, EMIS web and TPP SystmOne, and pharmacy systems Pinnacle PharmOutcomes and Sonar Informatics, are now live.

Electronic notifications are currently in use for the urgent supply of medicines made as part of the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS)1 and pharmacy administered flu vaccinations.

They are sent automatically from pharmacies and received by GP practices as a workflow task in their clinical system. Some GP systems can receive structured information, which means details can be added directly to a patient’s record, without the need to transcribe them manually.

Dr Masood Nazir, director of digital primary care at NHSX, said: “The urgent supply of medicines should be as straightforward as possible for patients, GP practice and pharmacy staff, particularly during the pandemic and as we look towards winter.

“By sending notifications electronically, we will make life easier for the staff at local pharmacies and family doctors and increase safety for patients, which is arguably more important than ever – this is why we have commissioned NHS Digital to accelerate this important work.”

Digital health accelerator open for applications

Propel@YH, an accelerator programme aimed at helping digital health innovators navigate the NHS in the Yorkshire and Humber region, is open for applications from start-ups that have developed innovations or products as a response to Covid-19.

To be eligible for the programme, applicants should have either an existing presence in the Yorkshire and Humber region or be willing to establish one.

Programme content will be tailored to individual members to enable global organisations to bring innovative digital health and patient solutions to the region’s population and wider health economy.

Neville Young, director of enterprise and innovation for the Yorkshire and Humber AHSN, said: “Covid has changed, and will continue to change, our health and care system completely and it is important that the NHS and other health providers have the tools in place to allow them to adapt to the new ways of working.

“Because of this, we have decided this year’s programme should focus on supporting solutions which focus in particular on COVID and the wider implications of the virus.”

Applications for the programme are open until 24th September and has space for 10 start-up digital health innovators.

Hyland releases intelligent data platform

Content services provider Hyland has announced the latest release of its intelligent data extraction and text analytics software, Brainwave Foundation.

Brainware Foundation EP1 includes key enhancements to functionality, usability and security – most notably the addition of a handwriting recognition engine.

Built on a modern technology architecture, Brainware Foundation strengthens organisations’ existing technology investments while equipping them for the future through an increased cadence of enhancements.

From this release, Brainware users can opt to leverage Microsoft’s cloud OCR engine through Azure Computer Vision, an intelligent content analysis tool within the portfolio of Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services.

Tim Shippy, capture product manager at Hyland, said: ““Our goal with the Brainware modernisation vision and strategy is to continue offering organisations the most powerful document acquisition and intelligent data capture software on the market.

“The addition of advanced handwritten text OCR will significantly expand the ability to extract information from documents and forms, as well as accelerate downstream processes.”

NHS Hillingdon CCG secures remote device estate

NHS Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has secured 300 laptops and tablet computers with Absolute, an Endpoint Resilience solutions.

The organisation, which is responsible for commissioning health services in Hillingdon including community health and hospital services, provides IT equipment and support for 45 health practices across the borough.

Recent investments and improvements have included purchasing laptops for clinicians and practice staff to work from home during the Covid-19 crisis, and tablet computers so that patients can complete questionnaires about the state of their health upon arrival at the GP surgery.

With the health and welfare of thousands of residents to manage, along with an increasingly mobile workforce, NHS Hillingdon CCG needed a security solution to protect their 300-device estate.

David Gulbrandsen, head of IT security and networks at the CCG, said: “With Absolute, our entire laptop and tablet estate is completely protected, enabling us to track, update and wipe devices at the touch of a button.

“This means our GPs and health professionals can operate without fear of security risks and focus on treating patients and looking after those who need it most.”

Connect Health appointed to two NHS frameworks

NHS community healthcare provider Connect Health has been named as a partner on two national frameworks.

The solution is now available through the Outsourced Clinical Services Framework and Health Systems Support Framework (HSSF).

Developed by NHS Shared Business Services, the Outsourced Clinical Services framework provides an OJEU compliant route to market for approved organisations to procure quality, value for money clinical services.

Connect provides national evidence-based, clinically-driven community musculoskeletal services (MSK), including orthopaedics, pain, rheumatology, physiotherapy and change management expertise, informed by its proven transformation and mobilisation model.

Mike Turner, chief operating officer at Connect Health, said: “We are delighted to have been the only specialist MSK provider chosen for the OCS framework, and to score second highest in a group of over 35 successful bidders.

“Our services cover more than 10% of England’s population, demonstrating that we can quickly leverage our platform to support NHS partners’ waiting lists. The framework offers a quick and secure route to engage with the additional expertise and capacity to support current and ongoing demand needs.”