Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.

👇 News

🤖 South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has adopted AI technology designed to spot abnormalities that may lead to bowel cancer. The GI Genius module can be attached to a colonoscopy camera and uses computer vision technology to highlight possible polyps. Clinicians can then see these on the screen and decide whether to remove them. In trials, the AI Identified at least one adenoma in an extra eight out of every 100 people.

🚀 Health Innovation West of England is launching a new training programme designed to help innovators get into the health tech market. Starting on 10 October 2024, the West of England Commercialisation Academy is a free, eight-week programme that will provide commercial guidance, tools and workshops to participants. Applications are open now and close on Sunday 8 September 2024.

🛩️ NHS laboratory specimens have been delivered by drone for first time in Scotland. As part of an initiative called Project CAELUS, samples were flown from Edinburgh BioQuarter, next to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and Borders General Hospital in Melrose. Project CAELUS is an effort to build a national drone network in Scotland capable of delivering medicines, bloods and medical supplies to remote communities.

🦾 Southampton Children’s Hospital has become the first NHS site to use the Versius Surgical Robotic System to perform kidney surgery on a child. The system has a 720-degree range of motion that allows it to use small surgical instruments to perform complex operations on paediatric patients. Versius is already used in adult surgery at the trusts, and it’s hoped technology will lead to faster recovery times, less postoperative pain and less time in hospital.

🩻 Yeovil Hospital in Somerset has received a new CT scanner that will help speed up radiology wait times. The new scanner offers quicker, higher-quality images. “Our previous CT scanner served us well and has been a workhorse over the years, but it was clear that it was getting old as the time to process scans was becoming longer,” said Katie Howells, interim site lead for radiology at Yeovil Hospital.

❓Did you know?

The UK government spent £3.4 billion on consultancy spending in 2023/24, Tussell’s 2024 Management Consultancy Snapshot report has found.

While central government accounts for most of this spending, other areas of the public sector – including the NHS, transport and emergency services – also spend hundreds of millions of pounds on external consultants each year, according to the Tussell.com.

NHS England spent £845 million on management consultancy spending in 2023/24, the report found. Central government spends more on management consultancy than the rest of the public sector combined, totalling £1.9 billion.

📖 What we’re reading

The King’s Fund has published guidance for policymakers outlining interventions the government must take to improve working conditions in the NHS.

Titled 10 actions the government can take to improve NHS working conditions, the briefing by policy advisor Jessica Holden urges the government to take steps to boost morale and support NHS staff.

Recommendations include setting minimum standards for workplace facilities and modernising working practices, including flexible options, and providing comprehensive mental health support for NHS workers.

It also highlights the importance of addressing chronic staff shortages and improving retention and productivity across the service.

“Delivering high-quality care is only possible if staff get the practical and emotional support they need. There is a huge opportunity to improve the experience of work for NHS staff, and in turn, improve performance and patient outcomes,” the report states.

🚨 Upcoming events

4 September, virtual event — The future for data protection in the UK