Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕
- 23 July 2024
Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.
👇 News
📈 West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has attributed its leap up the NHS league tables to its ‘whole hospital’ approach and its virtual hospital service. According to a press release, the trust was ranked the 7th best performing NHS trust for accident and emergency waiting times – rising nearly 100 places in two years.
⌨️ University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a digital experience solution (DEX). According to a tender notice, published on 15 July 2024, the DEX solution must “provide real-time data and analytics to identify potential equipment issues before they impact operations” and “proactively monitor and manage the health and performance of equipment” across the trust’s facilities.
😷 A public inquiry into preparedness for a pandemic has declared that the UK government “failed” the public due to “preparing for the wrong pandemic”. According to the inquiry report, published on 18 July, one of the major flaws identified was the lack of a system “that could be scaled up to test, trace and isolate” to help manage pandemics.
⌚ A study published on 15 July 2024 in Nature Medicine, has found that consumer wearable devices have clinical value when it comes to comparing the response to two treatments for atrial fibrillation and heart failure. The study was funded as part of the BigData@Heart consortium from the EU’s Innovative Medicines Initiative and was led by researchers from the cardA/c group at the University of Birmingham.
👨👩👧👧 The new National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre in Emergency and Acute Care in Manchester held its official opening event in July 2024. According to a press release, the centre will “work collaboratively with innovators to co-develop novel technology solutions, for better diagnosis, treatments and care for patients”.
❓ Did you know?
New data from the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2023, published in July 2024, has revealed that the public’s satisfaction with NHS Scotland has fallen to the lowest level since before the millennium.
Polling by the Scottish Centre for Social Research found that for the first time since 2005, more people are dissatisfied than satisfied with how the NHS operates. It found that just 23% of respondents are satisfied with the health service, compared to 64% in 2019.
The dissatisfaction comes as the King’s Speech on 17 July, outlined the government’s plans to improve the NHS through reducing wait times and focusing on prevention.
📖 What we’re reading
Mason Hayes & Curran, a business law firm, has published the Mid-Year Digital Health Guide – an analysis of the trends, regulatory changes and emerging policies that have been seen in the past six months in the EU’s digital health sector.
The guide examines more closely the proposed changes to the EU product liability regime in the digital and AI age, as well as the regulation of medical devices here in the UK.
It aims to provide actionable insights for healthcare professionals, policymakers, tech developers and investors to help them navigate the evolving digital health landscape.
🚨 This week’s event
23 July, London – Equity Charter Summit
