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

🤖 AI technology is helping health staff diagnose lung cancers and other issues quickly and accurately at University Hospitals Tees. The health group, formed of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, began using the annalise.ai system in October 2024. The tool is being used for patients getting chest X-rays across University Hospitals Tees and enables staff to prioritise urgent cases.

🩻 Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) has received £1.4 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for an additional MRI scanner. The new scanner will be used for a range of research opportunities and will mainly focus on the role of AI in diagnosing various conditions. HDFT was one of 36 NHS organisations in England to receive funding from the NIHR, following a recent call for bids to improve access to research studies in smaller hospitals in England.

🏆 Walsall Connected has won a national award at the Patient Experience Network National Awards for partnership working to help residents gain digital skills and easier access to essential services. Walsall Connected is a community-focused initiative providing face-to-face digital support to residents. Launched in July 2022, the initiative has grown from two centres to a network of 29 incorporating council-owned libraries, community partnerships and other partner organisations across the borough.

🧠 Patients with depression in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have reported improvements in their symptoms after using the Flow Neuroscience brain stimulation headset as part of a pilot project being led by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. Eighty patients participated in a six-week programme that involved completing monitoring surveys throughout their treatment. Of those, 64 (80%) of patients reported a decrease in their depression symptoms, with some patients experiencing a drop in suicidal ideation by up to 75%.

🥽 oVRcome, a project that helps patients with learning disabilities or autism feel more at ease in hospital, has won first prize in the Learning Disabilities Nursing category at the Nursing Times Awards 2024. Eligible patients are given virtual reality glasses to watch footage of clinical environments and procedures, making them more comfortable ahead of their hospital visit. The videos are created based on patient feedback and feature scenarios filmed at Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

❓Did you know?

A YouGov survey, commissioned by West Midlands healthcare start-up Get Well Soon, found that almost half (46%) of those surveyed did not know anything about the likely costs for self-pay healthcare for non-emergency elective’ procedures, such as knee and hip operations, kidney stone removal, hernia repairs etc.

The survey, which took place in October 2024, had a total sample size was 2,041 adults weighted to be representative of all UK adults.

Birmingham-based Get Well Soon is a platform that allows patients to review consultants and compare prices across multiple hospitals in the region.

It is the first recipient of capital from the newly established West Midlands Co-investment Fund, set up to support SMEs that offer high-growth potential in sectors such as green tech and digital and are considered as key drivers for the regional economy.

📖 What we’re reading

The Nuffield Trust article, How can an NHS plan really make a difference? published on 28 October, considers the challenges that the NHS’s new 10-year plan may face, drawing on lessons from previous initiatives like the Five Year Forward View.

Written by Mark Dayan, the article argues that for the plan needs a commitment to stable, long-term funding in order to succeed, particularly in areas like digital infrastructure to tackle bottlenecks in patient care. Dayan calls for practical steps towards achieving these goals, including involving local leaders in decision-making and setting realistic targets based on productivity metrics to ensure a more effective transition toward digital and preventive care models.

🚨Upcoming events

12 November, London – Building effective partnerships between health and care and the life sciences industry