Public health
A new report from the BMJ Future Health Commission, a joint initiative between global healthcare knowledge provider BMJ Group and independent assurance and risk management provider DNV, shows that healthcare professionals (HCPs) feel digital health technologies fail to help them deliver more care with fewer resources. According to the survey, less than half (47 per [...]
The Medical Research Council has awarded £1.45m to develop new efflux-resistant antifungal drugs for Candida auris and other Candida species, pathogens with mortality rates over 50 per cent. The grant will support research into invasive candidiasis, tackling rising drug resistance in fungi the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as “critical”. Professor Miraz Rahman at [...]
Researchers have linked self-reported memory decline to blood biomarkers, raising the prospect of simpler Alzheimer’s diagnosis for underserved groups. The study of 5,712 Hispanic and Latino adults aged 50–86 found connections between certain blood proteins and perceived problems with memory and thinking, suggesting a less invasive alternative to current methods. Scientists at the University of [...]
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has extended the rollout of Sunrise Electronic Patient Record (EPR), powered by Altera Digital Health, to its community services. The go-live marks a major milestone in its digital transformation journey and in supporting care beyond the hospital by joining up patient records across acute and community settings. This latest rollout highlights [...]
Chatbot-linked suicides should act as a warning about the risks of creating super-intelligent AI systems, an AI safety expert has said. Nate Soares, co-author with Eliezer Yudkowsky of the book If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, pointed to the case of US teenager Adam Raine as evidence of the dangers in controlling artificial intelligence. Raine [...]
Eight entrepreneurs have been chosen to develop health innovation ventures in Liverpool through Citizen First LCR, a new scheme supporting so-called hidden entrepreneurs. Projects include hospital robots, AI-guided sleep support and a mobile hair salon. The programme is the first time Public Life’s Citizen Incubator model has been brought to Liverpool, as part of the [...]
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has taken a significant step towards a more digital future by rolling out electronic test ordering using Clinisys ICE. The trust deployed the order communications system to around 2,000 clinical users across all of its wards, the maternity and paediatrics units, the emergency and same day emergency care departments, and [...]
Rethinking healthcare abroad: Why more UK patients are choosing India and The Medical Travel Company
By Dr Sukhdev Singh, General Practitioner; Public Governor, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust & Medical Director in Primary Care at TMTC In the UK, the term “health tourism” or “medical value tourism” has historically acquired a bad reputation and with good reason. Stories of patients returning from abroad with botched or unexpected procedures, with [...]
By Jess O’Dwyer, General Manager Europe, Pocketalk When it comes to modernising the NHS, there’s no shortage of ambition. Yet, while plans, pilots and proposals make headlines, the intricacies of being innovative in the healthcare sector must be realised and the challenges of introducing that innovation must be addressed. Let’s take language [...]
More than 1,000 bladder cancer patients a year can now access an NHS treatment shown in trials to double survival compared with standard chemotherapy. The combination therapy, available from today, has been described as "one of the most hopeful advances in decades" for people with the disease. Around 1,250 patients in England each year could [...]
