Piers Ford

Outgoing NHSX director of digital development Dr Sam Shah has been ranked fourth in the #IB100, a list of the top 100 most influential black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) leaders in the tech sector produced by executive search agency Inclusive Boards in partnership with the Financial Times.

A consortium-led project aims to take the concept of robotic colleagues for healthcare professionals to the next level, helping to address the emerging elderly care crisis in Europe created by staff shortages and an ageing population.

Ransomware and denial-of-service attacks make headlines when it comes to hospital cybersecurity, but internal cultural and technological vulnerabilities are often more to blame for an ongoing cycle of healthcare data breaches. 

A centralised digital pathology system implemented by the Northern Cancer Alliance is set to speed up cancer diagnosis for patients at nine hospitals by giving clinicians a single view of records and slides, regardless of location.

Closer dialogue between national and local bodies is essential if the national policy for NHS technology, digital and data is to achieve its priority of a digital NHS, according to a new report that explores the opportunities for digital transformation following the creation of NHSX. The professionalisation of digital health roles, more co-ordinated leadership to drive the adoption of data sharing, and recognition that investment in achieving digital maturity requires a realistic long-term strategy are three of the key recommendations from the Nuffield Trust report, Achieving a Digital NHS: Lessons for national policy from the acute sector, which also focuses on the importance of digital standards and the benefits of more streamlined relationships with digital suppliers. The report is based on feedback from 72 digital leaders in national organisations, NHS trusts and frontline roles. It concludes that while digitisation is making good progress across the NHS, the new focus on refining the organisational approach to national policy affords a number of important opportunities for NHSX and national bodies to take a more joined-up approach to digital transformation. WHAT'S THE IMPACT? Many acute trusts feel that the recruitment and retention of a workforce to support and deliver digital change is a significant hindrance to transformation. The report’s authors, Sophie Castle-Clarke and Rachel Hutchings, suggest that this could be addressed by the professionalisation of digital health roles and the development of appropriate pay frameworks, as well as qualifications that would help to build distinct career pathways. It also makes the case for legitimising the role of the Chief Clinical Information Officer – and for national bodies to provide best practice guidance on clinical informatics workforce configuration. The report emphasises the effort still required to drive the value of data sharing and overcome the reluctance of some providers to engage in local data sharing efforts. Central bodies could help to ensure a better understanding of Information Governance legislation, engage more fully with patients and the public, while national and regional leadership could drive the development of trust-based analytics capacity – helping to reduce reliance on outsourced projects. The report also advocates a more co-ordinated approach to investment in achieving digital maturity, based on a recognition that transformation will take a long time, and requires a joined-up strategy that includes the digitisation of middling and weaker trusts as well as Global Digital Examplars (GDEs). WHAT'S THE TREND? The report acknowledges the positive work that has been achieved on collaborative digital standards development but says the national strategy for implementation is often lacking. The impact of this across the areas covered by the report – configuring a digital workforce, working with digital suppliers, data sharing, funding and sustainability, and the role of the GDE and Fast Follower programme – requires a more strategic approach, and better communication between national policy and NHS providers. “Too often, the implementation of standards is viewed as a technical rather than a technical adaptive exercise, and frequently falls to technical specialists within trusts,” the report found. “More needs to be done to communicate the purpose of digital standards beyond technical teams – particularly in highlighting the potential benefit they offer the organisation.” ON THE RECORD “Establishing clear avenues for two-way dialogue between all local organisations and central bodies is essential to ensure that national policy is in line with local priorities and effectively supports digital advancement, rather than serves as a hindrance or distraction,” concludes the report. “This may help central bodies strike the right balance between national direction and giving NHS organisations the space and time to lead their own change.”

King’s College London and NVIDIA are collaborating on a new platform that will broaden the scope of AI in NHS hospital radiology services across the UK.

The eHealth Network’s drive to enable cross-border prescription and patient summary sharing has stepped up a level as Croatia joins Finland, Estonia, Luxembourg and Czechia in the first tranche of participants.

Patients, clinicians and technology vendors must work together to drive the adoption of digital health at the heart of national models and systems, researchers say.

With some French hospitals now pondering a move to their next generation of PACS, vendors are stepping up their market ambitions.

Israeli infusion system specialist Q Core Medical has opened a new European hub in Marseille, France, to capitalise on growing demand for its smart pumps in both hospital and ambulatory care settings. The European HQ will be led by country manager Laurent Schektman, who said that the location was the doorway to the French and European healthcare markets. “France is especially ready for Q Core’s level of infusion system innovation,” he said. “With a growing elderly population, an increased need for infusion and a 5 to 10 percent increase in patients being treated in homecare settings rather than hospitals, France has a real market need for intuitive, easy-to-use and reliable infusion systems.” Q Core’s Sapphire infusion pumps provide lightweight, advanced and intuitive infusion systems that can be used in a range of IV therapies, including pain management, oncology drug delivery, epidural infusion, parenteral nutrition and antibiotic treatments. What’s the impact? France’s healthcare system reflects the global shift of moving patients from hospitals into homecare settings, and has seen a 40 percent year-on-year growth in patients receiving homecare treatments over the past four years. Q Core Director Shaul Eitan said that advanced reimbursement models have done a very good job of creating a relatively lucrative proposition for private companies to participate in the provision of ambulatory homecare in France. With its touch screen and ease of use, the Sapphire infusion pump is already popular with homecare pharmacies. “There are not that many small ambulatory pumps out there, and we have established good market traction since we introduced our first models in 2013,” he said. “We see a lot of interest, not just in France but also in Germany, Holland and the UK.” What’s the trend? While data protection regulations continue to inhibit the role of technologies such as infusion systems in the rise of the Internet of Medical Things (IOMT), Eitan said that gathering data about the use and performance of the pumps has been crucial in their development. Every Sapphire pump requires an annual preventative maintenance service, and Q Core takes the opportunity to pull historical data about its use and analysing it to improve new models. In the short term, enhancements will focus on communications functionality, which will benefit both care providers and patients. On the record “There are a lot of potential solutions for communications into the home space,” said Eitan. “The most critical place for data is on the patient adherence side. On the caregiver side it’s about managing capital cost and maintenance. We’re driving to a place where homecare should be going much faster, getting patients out of hospital and making it cost-effective.”