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

📹 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is using livestreaming technology as part of its maternity training for student midwives and resident doctors. The training involves a surgeon wearing a camera and microphone headset during a C-section and livestreaming to around 30 students in an education room. The microphone offers two-way communication, allowing students to ask questions and the surgeon to answer in real-time as they perform the operation.

💰 Healthtech startup Scalpel AI has secured $4.8 million (£3.7m) in funding as it looks to expand and roll out its technology in the healthcare supply chain. The London-based company has developed a tool that combines computer vision and machine learning technology to track surgical implants as they move through the supply chain, improving visibility and patient safety while also reducing costs associated with lost equipment.

🐣 Medical devices supplier Vygon says that it has supplied more than 40,000 heat loss prevention suits for premature babies across more than 150 hospitals and ambulance services. Neohelp is designed to manage thermoregulation in premature and low birth weight babies during the  ‘golden hour of care’ after a baby is born. An 18-month study found improvements to the temperatures of babies weighing less than 1kg when comparing a Neohelp thermoregulation suit to other solutions, such as incubators and warning mattresses.

🛜 Airwave Healthcare is making its services available through the G-Cloud framework, with the aim of enabling NHS organisations to streamline procurement of patient entertainment systems. The company is also offering NHS organisations WiFi services through the G-Cloud 14 framework such as digital signage solutions, which can both be configured to provide patients with important information relevant to their care.

🤖 Digital health company Psyomics has partnered with mental health and social care provider Priory to deploy its AI-informed triage tool, Censeo. The tool helps streamline mental health referrals by analysing patients’ responses to match them with appropriate care pathways, from therapy to psychiatry or addiction treatment. In a pilot with Priory, Censeo successfully guided 67% of users into therapy, 28% to psychiatry and 5% to addiction treatment. Psyomics also plans to develop a version of Censeo specifically for children and young people.

❓Did you know?

The NHS is now offering people support in how to access online health services such as the NHS App at 1,400 libraries across England, following plans announced in August 2024.

According to NHS England, more than two in five public library services in the country have now signed up to offer the service, with more expected to join in the coming months. 

The NHS has been working with the National Health Literacy Partnership to provide public and NHS libraries with toolkits and information resources to enable them to support their service users, particularly those from underserved communities who may not have access to the internet or a device at home.

📖 What we’re reading

‘Thriving in a Digital Age Pathways‘, published by NHS Education for Scotland, offers guidance for health and social care staff on integrating digital technology in their work. 

Developed by the digitally enabled workforce team, the guide introduces four themes – explore, embed, drive, and shape – each building on the last to deepen understanding of digital tools and concepts.

Each pathway includes curated resources and activities to help professionals apply these insights practically in their roles.

🚨Upcoming events

22 November, London – From Treatment to Prevention – How will new policy affect Mental Health Innovation?