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

♥️ University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) has carried out its first pulse field ablation (PFA) cases. UHCW is the third NHS trust to use the technology, called PulseSelect, to treat patients with atrial fibrillation. PFA involves delivering rapid, high-voltage pulsed electrical fields to the patient’s heart tissue, helping to prevent injury to surrounding areas such as the gullet and phrenic nerve.

🤖 A trial of AI technology for detecting cancer during colonoscopies has been heralded a success at Bolton NHS Trust. The COLODETECT study involved more than 180 patients, who were recruited between September 2021 and March 2023. The use of AI technology resulted in an 8.3% increase in adenoma detection, which could potentially equate to an almost 25% reduction in post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer and a 42% reduction in fatal cases, the trust said. The results of the study, which involved 10 NHS trusts, were published in The Lancet on 14 August.

📱Totalmobile has announced a new partnership with Inverclyde Council’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) through which scheduling technology will be used to improve support for residents and reduce administrative burden for carers. Totalmobile was awarded the contract to manage the scheduling service for around 550 social care workers in Inverclyde, which includes tools that react to unplanned changes, such as staff sickness, without manual intervention.

💡 Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has completed an extensive Wi-Fi upgrade at Broomfield Hospital in which it replaced 420 wireless access points with 1,200 new ones and installed 84km of new network cable – plus 3km of patch cables. The project, which involved collaboration between the trust’s digital services, estates and facilities and clinical teams, means staff, visitors and patients benefit from high-speed Wi-Fi throughout the hospital.

🏆 Martyn Perry, chief digital information officer at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, has been named as one of the UK’s top CIOs for a second time. Perry came 17th in the CIO 100 Awards 2024, which was run by online community Digital Leaders. “I’m delighted that we’re keeping NHS digital transformation in the national spotlight, amongst some fabulous peers from across the UK’s public and private sectors,” he said.

❓Did you know?

Two-thirds (67%) of healthcare organisations experienced a ransomware attack in 2024, according to Sophos’ ‘The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2024‘ report.

The report is based on an independent survey of 5,000 IT and cybersecurity leaders across 14 countries in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific, including 402 respondents from the healthcare sector. It found that, on average, 58% of devices in affected organisations were impacted by each ransomware attack.

In 74% of attacks data was encrypted, while 22% of these involved data theft. Healthcare organisations reported an average recovery cost of $2.57 million (£1.92m) in 2024, doubling the cost reported in 2021. 

📖 What we’re reading

‘AI in healthcare: navigating the noise’ by Sarah Ferry and Chibuchi Amadi-Livingstone, published by NHS Confederation on 20 September 2024, provides healthcare leaders with a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying AI within their organisations. The guide covers fundamental AI concepts, explains jargon and offers insights into how AI is currently being used in various healthcare settings for administrative tasks and clinical support.

The guide includes practical examples of AI in action, such as at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s use of machine learning to predict patient no-shows and cancellations.

It also highlights key considerations for healthcare leaders exploring AI solutions, such as questions to ask suppliers, and highlights the importance of aligning AI initiatives with trusts’ specific needs and challenges. 

🚨Upcoming events

17 October, London – Healthcare Summit 2024