Industry news in brief

Our first industry round up of 2019 features news that a report has suggested innovation and technology can help alleviate pressures facing the NHS and a device and app which allows women to monitor their fertility being launched in the UK.

Report suggests innovation and technology can help alleviate NHS pressures

A new report from the cross-party think tank, Demos, has suggested innovation and technology can help alleviate pressures and provide a solution to the NHS during the winter months.

The report, titled ‘Winter is Coming. HealthTech is Here’, concludes that technology has the potential to play a transformative role in the NHS but collaboration between NHS Providers and innovators is vital.

Supported by Roche Diagnostics, the report calls for a number of actions including collaborative exercises and expansion of the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs).

Demos Researcher and author of the report, Elliot Jones, said: “It is clear that breaking down communications barriers will be essential for the future of our NHS. There are so many promising innovations and technologies out there waiting to be harnessed for the health of the public.

“However, there are fundamental misunderstandings that need to be overcome, data that needs to opened up to patients, standards and systems that need to be collaboratively developed, in order to make that happen.”

Children’s hospice saves admin hours with digital transformation

Acorns Children’s Hospice has said it has saved admin hours after rolling out digital solutions for its HR and payroll functions.

With help from MHR, the hospice was able to digitise many of its admin services including the automation its payroll services.

Becky Mallon, head of HR at Acorns Children’s Hospice, said: “As a charity with limited resources, it is essential that our processes are as efficient as possible so we can focus more time and activities on the children and families we care for.

“For many years our payroll process was completely manual with multiple spreadsheets, resulting in time being lost on mundane administrative requirements, which needed to be streamlined and simplified, rather than on more valuable activities

New data shows increasing use of NHS 111

Thousands of people in Yorkshire and the Humber receive urgent healthcare through the NHS 111 service, new data suggests.

About 3,800 people use the service every weekday and about 13,000 on the weekend.

NHS England North is encouraging patients to take advantage of health advice over the phone as part of the wider ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign.

Offering expert advice to people seeking help over the phone is a core part of improving access to urgent NHS help, and reducing pressure on A&E services, it said.

Members of the public called the NHS 111 service in England over 1.4 million times in November 2018, an increase of six per cent compared with the same time last year.

There were 16.6 million calls nationally to 111 in the past 12 months, easing pressure on frontline services.

Fertility testing app launched in the UK

A device and app which allows women to monitor their fertility has been launched in the UK.

MyLotus is a digital device and accompanying free app which allows women to measure their personal fertility hormone levels at home.

The aim is to give women greater control over their health.