Industry news in brief

This Digital Health News industry roundup covers a new training programme for robotic-assisted surgery, Think Healthcare’s inclusion on the Better Purchasing Framework List and a new partnership for Hill Dickinson and HIC.  

Cylera wins at National Fortress Cybersecurity Awards 

Healthcare IoT and medical device cybersecurity pioneer, Cylera has been named best in Threat Detection at the 2023 Fortress Cybersecurity Awards.  

The company was recognised by the judges for its multi-award-winning cybersecurity and intelligence platform. The solution is designed specifically for digital healthcare challenges and allows IT teams to view, profile, manage and risk assess their entire connected environment, from one centralised place. 

In particular, the judges commented on the platforms’ Adaptive Data Type Analysis patented technology. This delivers the most accurate identification of devices, attribution characterisation, informed vulnerability risk assessment and threat analysis.  

Cylera’s CEO, Timur Ozekcin, said: “Cylera’s platform offers a unique solution powered by AI-driven asset discovery and risk assessment techniques. It continuously and accurately finds and identifies devices, analyses the level of risk associated in real-time.  

“This allows healthcare organisations to swiftly identify all connected assets, detect security vulnerabilities, develop effective risk mitigation strategies via playbooks, and receive detailed reports on their security posture with actionable suggestions for improvement.” 

Last year, Cylera was the first to develop an NHS Cyber Alert dashboard. This enabled NHS trusts to swiftly coordinate their cyber responses to online threat notifications from NHS Digital’s Data Security Centre.  

UK’s first robotic-assisted surgery training programme collaboration 

Intuitive and Newcastle Surgical Training Centre are collaborating on a training programme designed to educate the next generation of surgeons.  

The da Vinci Academic Surgical Trainee Programme is run by Newcastle Surgical Training Centre in partnership with the developer of the da Vinci surgical systems, Intuitive. 

Already, more than 30 surgical trainees in urology, colorectal, HPB and upper gastro-intestinal from NHS trusts across the northeast are enrolled in the programme. Through it, they are gaining hands-on experience in robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) with da Vinci surgical systems.  

Currently within the NHS, surgeons are trained to use a RAS system once they qualify as a consultant. With this programme, a structured curriculum allows trainees to participate in RAS procedures, allowing them to become proficient sooner in their careers.  

Professor Alan Horgan, consultant colorectal surgeon at Newcastle Hospitals and co-director of the Newcastle Surgical Training Centre, said: “For our patients this is great news as there will be more and more surgeries being performed robotically in the future and it means their surgeons will have been trained at an early stage to perform these procedures and they can take full advantage of the technology.” 

The trainees will use Intuitive’s digital learning platform with the My intuitive App. This enables them to access their operational data during the training, allowing them to see their progression and share their learning data with mentors to review and learn from.  

David Marante, regional director at Intuitive UK and Ireland said: “We look forward to working with this cohort of trainees over the next three years who represent the future of surgery here in the UK, as they go on to utilise our technology to support the NHS in improving outcomes and productivity and deliver better overall experience for patients while lowering the total cost of care.”  

Think Healthcare named as supplier on NHS Better Purchasing Framework List 

Think Healthcare has been named as an assured supplier on the Better Purchasing Framework List, after meeting the national cloud-based telephony specification and NHS terms and conditions.  

Suppliers on the list are pre-committed to the terms of the new Digital Care Serviced Cloud Telephony Framework, which will replace the current framework later this year. Both frameworks allow buying organisations to procure services with confidence in the suppliers and solutions named on the list.  

Think Healthcare’s full cloud digital telephony platform is based on the best-of-breed cloud-based telephony technology and fully integrates into the NHS clinical systems. It can help improve efficiencies and deliver a better patient service.  

Dave Mills, head of Think Healthcare, said: “We are very pleased to have been named on the Better Purchasing Framework List and look forward to migrating to the Digital Care Services Cloud Telephony framework.

“We have worked with GP surgeries for many years and are looking forward to being able to continue this work into the future.” 

HIC and Hill Dickinson partner to drive digital transformation 

Health law firm Hill Dickinson has teamed up with Healthcare Innovation Consortium (HIC) to support the digital transformation of the NHS. 

The two companies will be providing bespoke support packages throughout the entire digital journey, drawing on their respective areas of expertise. The comprehensive and tailored solution is designed to foster a thriving ecosystem of innovation at local, regional and national level.  

The UK government’s vision for digital health and social care underlines the crucial role of digital foundations to support the long-term sustainability of the healthcare sector.  

Hill Dickinson and HIC’s combined solution will empower NHS providers and systems to implement digital technologies to drive positive change. Hill Dickinson is a trusted advisory service for a number of NHS clients, providing a service covering the full range of contracts that might be needed for the IT operations.  

Digital health and social care agency HIC is focused on the adoption and spread of innovation in the sector, and supports the successful implementation of digital technologies.  

The partnership represents a significant step towards achieving the government’s digital health and social care goals.  

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare opens new facilities with VR walkthrough 

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust has announced the opening of the first new facilities being delivered through Project Chrysalis.

To coincide with the go live milestone, it has also unveiled a virtual reality (VR) walkthrough of the facilities, enabling staff, stakeholders, users and families to experience it for themselves.  

The walkthrough can be viewed through any web browser, of for a full immersive experience a VR headset can be used. The Project Chrysalis VR Walkthrough gives users the opportunities to navigate through the facilities as though they were actually there.  

Project Chrysalis aims to improve the inpatient facilities and experiences at Harplands Hospital. It includes a new 16-bed ward, en suite bathrooms, assisted bathrooms and gym facility.

It marks the biggest single capital investment at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare since the hospital was created.