Government & Policy

Selected institutions will use the money to develop curricula, recruit participants and assist in public health career placements.

Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said the UK must “level up” digital health inequalities to ensure the long-term sustainability of health and social care. One in 10 NHS trusts are still operating on paper-based systems and 71% of the social care sector has no digital access to information on patients’ medication, according to figures revealed by Javid at the Founders Forum Health Tech Summit this week. “Despite the great progress of recent years, too much of the system doesn’t currently have the basics in place, which frustrates patients and makes life harder for colleagues on the frontline,” Javid said in his virtual keynote address. In the speech, which took place during London Tech Week today (21 Sept), Javid said the opportunities of digital transformation should be “spread fairly” by shoring up cybersecurity capability, replacing out of date technology and supporting the adoption of shared care records. He stated that 88% of integrated care systems will have a shared record in place by the end of September – up from 65% six months ago. Also, he said clear digital standards were being developed to encourage innovation and multiple funds for tech transformation would be consolidated into a single fund.  WHY IT MATTERS Javid said that digital transformation was essential to increase the time spent on patient care and could mean releasing more than 10 hours of care worker time per care home each week. THE LARGER CONTEXT In his speech, Javid praised “coders, developers, and innovators” for helping the NHS during the “seismic change” of the pandemic. He acknowledged digital health successes including the online coronavirus diagnosis service, the vaccination booking system and use of primary care data to create the world’s largest analysis of coronavirus risk factors. Also he noted the NHS app, which allows people to view the NHS COVID Pass, has now reached 16 million users, compared to four million in May. More than 300,000 people are being supported at home through digital solutions for monitoring long-term conditions, such as pulse oximeters which allow patients to measure their blood oxygen levels, he said. Javid also highlighted the creation of the AI Health and Care Award, which is making £140 million available over three years for AI technology and the creation of the What Good Looks Like digital framework, which sets out standards for digital maturity. ON THE RECORD Javid said: “Now we’ve seen what health tech can do at a time when health systems around the world were under incredible strain, we must build on the progress that we’ve all seen and deliver this long-awaited digital revolution. “First, we need to get the basics right and make sure that the great advances we’ve seen are replicated across the whole of NHS and social care.”

As ONC's recognized coordinating entity for TEFCA, the interoperability group is seeking stakeholder response on the data elements as it develops new exchange guidelines.

The hackers reportedly began posting patient names, Social Security numbers and medical information on their blog earlier this month.

More than 43 people in 11 judicial districts were accused of participating in an array of different schemes relating to telemedicine.

The contract is aimed at procuring remote patient monitoring and telemedicine devices, to be distributed to VA facilities or to veterans.

It will fund the chosen projects over the next two years.

Also, the Pandemic Institute launches in Liverpool to speed up vaccine development. 

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen outlined flagship initiatives for the European Union (EU) in her State of the Union address yesterday (15 Sept). The EU’s vaccination efforts featured strongly in the address, with Von der Leyen stating that more than 70% of adults in the EU are fully vaccinated. She added that the EU had delivered more than 700 million doses to countries in the rest of the world and will increase its donation commitment by a further 200 million doses. More than 400 million EU Digital COVID Certificates (EUDCCs) have been generated across Europe, according to von der Leyen, with 42 countries in four continents using the scheme. She referred to digital as “the make or break issue,” and said that digital spending in NextGenerationEU recovery plan would overshoot the 20% target. The NextGenerationEU €800 billion temporary stimulus package contributes towards the EU4Health programme  and Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The EU will focus on digital transformation including investment in 5G, fibre and digital skills, von der Leyen said. She called for a new European Chips Act which will create a “state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem” to ensure security of supply and develop new markets for European tech. Also, von der Leyen proposed a new health preparedness and resilience mission for the EU to “make sure that no virus will ever turn a local epidemic into a global pandemic”. She said the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was being set up to deal with future threats and should be backed up by Team Europe investment of €50 billion by 2027. Regarding cybersecurity, von der Leyen said the EU needed to “step up to the next level” and called for a European cyber defence policy, including legislation on common standards under a new European Cyber Resilience Act. WHY IT MATTERS The European Commission president delivers the State of the Union address to the Parliament in September each year. The address takes stock of the achievements of the past year, presents priorities for the year ahead and sets out how the Commission will address the most pressing challenges the EU faces. THE LARGER CONTEXT In April, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) was launched for digital and health projects to help Europe emerge stronger from COVID-19. The EUDCC came into force on July 1. Meanwhile in the UK, vaccine passports will be required to enter large indoor venues and nightclubs by the end of September. ON THE RECORD Von der Leyen said: “Today we are delivering with our proposal we get the HERA authority up and running. This will be a huge asset to deal with future health threats earlier and better. “We have the innovation and scientific capacity, the private sector knowledge, we have competent national authorities. And now we need to bring all of that together, including massive funding.”

The system will “improve functionality and coordination between health facilities” in the Emirates, says the country’s Ministry of Health and Prevention.