Industry news in brief

This month’s industry round up features news Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit have launched a web-based system for primary care and Health Education England has launched a blended learning nursing degree.

Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit launches web-based tool

Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) has launched PrimaryPoint – a web-based system which can help primary care organisations reduce day-to-day administration and be compliant with the latest legislation and best practice.

It provides primary care with 24/7 access to the latest policies, procedures, toolkits and other services quickly and easily through a new online portal.

Documents are ready-personalised with the organisation’s own details and logos; helping to reduce administration and ensuring a professional finish.

Dawn Wickham, associate director for primary care at MLCSU said: “PrimaryPoint has been designed exclusively for primary care, to make it as easy as possible to adopt, update and replace their policies and procedures. Bespoke guidance, tools and services will save organisations time and money – freeing up resources to spend on patients.

“Users will have access to expert specialist support, best practice documents, nationally-recognised products, plus a number of high-quality toolkits and systems exclusively developed in-house at MLCSU that will help streamline organisational processes.”

New degree launched to help nurses become more digital

Health Education England, along with seven universities, has launched a blended learning nursing degree to help the profession become more digital.

The degree is an innovative national programme to train nurses of the future by providing opportunities to a much wider group of people who have the skills, aptitude and values for a career in nursing, but who may need to study in a more flexible way.

Using a range of technologies including augmented reality, virtual reality, simulation, avatars, gaming and virtual learning environments, student nurses will get easy access to new and emerging technologies giving them, and their future employing trusts, stronger digital capabilities.

Students will still get important practice experience, spending up to 50% of their training time in practice settings already agreed with health and care providers across England.

Patrick Mitchell, director of innovation and transformation, said: “Flexibility and widening access is key to this programme – we know there must be many people who would like to study to be a nurse, but who cannot attend university in the traditional way.

“By commissioning this different way to study nursing, we are opening up the profession to people who have other commitments or who want a career change and want to study flexibly.

“This course is open to everyone, even those with limited digital literacy skills or problems with local connectivity; our partner universities have all demonstrated how they will support students to access the course in a range of ways from help with their technological skills to providing course materials offline.”

Careology partners with The London General Practice

Digital cancer care company Careology has partnered with The London General Practice to launch Careology Connect.

The new platform enables to remotely monitor Covid-19 symptoms among the 50,000 patients that the Harley Street clinic has on record.

It allows users to log and track the progression of their Covid-19 symptoms, automatically alerting their clinician at the London General Practice when symptoms are severe enough to warrant further medical attention.

The Careology Connect mobile app synchronises with wearable devices to automatically record someone’s temperature, heart rate, weight, oxygen saturation and activity levels, helping to build a complete picture of their health.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust deploys Navenio

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has deployed Navenio’s location-based AI platform to support portering teams.

The programme will be delivered by NTH Solutions, the provider of estates and facilities services to North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.

The relationship with Navenio will be focused on portering initially, but with a view to rolling out across multiple service lines including cleaning, security and asset location. These services will harness the power and insight of the Navenio location software, transforming how services are currently delivered and reported on.

Mike Worden, managing director at NTH Solutions, said: “At this time where organisations are under pressure to do more with less, it’s technology like this that will really help us lead the way in making improvements and proving their value.

“I’m excited about achieving our goals and working with the Navenio team to help us become a truly data-led organisation, enabling us to offer a safe and efficient service to our patients at the Trust.”

Medefer raises £10m to expand virtual NHS outpatient services

Virtual healthcare provider Medefer has secured £10 million funding led by private investment firm Nickleby Capital to expand outpatient services.

The funding will be used to invest in people and technology to service new contracts, enable new product development and ensure scalable and robust growth from its strong pipeline.

Dr Bahman Nedjat-Shokouhi, chief executive of Medefer and consultant gastroenterologist at Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, said: “Medefer was born out of a desire to empower the NHS to deliver a radically faster, safer and more effective service from referral, through diagnosis, to treatment and discharge.

“Our software can fundamentally transform the delivery of outpatient services. This funding round will enable us to support the NHS during its most challenging times in its 72-year history, and to continue to innovate in virtual specialist care.”

Marco Schiavo, managing partner at Nickleby Capital, added: “Medefer is a business whose time has come. They have a unique model with huge, growing, demand. They help the NHS slash waiting lists and save money, as well as improving patient outcomes.”

Your.MD raises $30m (£23m) funding to grow its self-care platform

Your.MD has secured £30m USD (£23m) from Reckitt Benckiser to grow its self-care platform, Healthily.

The investment will enable the brand to expand its reach across markets, including the UK, India and the US, as the first stop for personalised, clinical-grade information that individuals can use to manage their health and before contacting a doctor.

Your.MD chief executive Matteo Berlucchi said: “We’re delighted that our platform is growing from strength to strength and continues to attract best-in-class international partners that share our vision.

“Our relentless work toward democratising access to personalised healthcare information is progressing at pace and thanks to our strategic partnership with RB we are one step closer to reaching this ambitious, yet achievable, goal.”