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 

🏥 Medway Maritime Hospital has opened a new multi-million-pound cardio respiratory ward, providing state-of-the-art facilities for patients with serious breathing or heart conditions. The £5m development project, funded by NHS England, is part of a longer-term Cardio Respiratory Village development.

👁 A new study from the University of Cambridge has found that ChatGPT is capable of assessing eye problems and could potentially be used to triage patients. The accuracy of its responses was 69% compared to expert ophthalmologists (76%), trainee ophthalmologists (59%) and junior doctors (43%). 

🛫 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will be launching a pilot programme to see how it can evolve the regulation of AI as a medical device. Bringing together the NHS, regulatory bodies and other approved bodies, the AI-Airlock regulatory sandbox is set to launch in the coming weeks. 

🤝 South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is collaborating with Leeds Beckett University on a project that aims to digitise the trust’s adult ADHD and autism service. They will explore how computing technologies and AI can support various stages of the clinical pathways to help with diagnosis and prioritisation of services. 

💰 Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare, in collaboration with the Greener NHS programme and the Health Innovation Network, has awarded £3.2 million to 22 innovations designed to help “improve care and accelerate a greener NHS”, with recipients including an AI-based predictive tool for pressure ulcers; a neurorehabilitation app designed to reduce the carbon footprint of community stroke rehabilitation; and a process utilising ultraviolet radiation to enable re-use of medical devices close to the point of care.

❓ Did you know that? 

Workers in the healthcare sector are topping the Career Happiness Index 2024. The Index, from The Futures Group, analysed Glassdoor data on culture, diversity, work/life balance, compensation, senior leadership and career development. The healthcare sector scored 72, putting it in joint first place with accounting and finance. 

📖 What we’re reading 

The Lancet – Randomised controlled trials evaluating artificial intelligence in clinical practice: a scoping review 

🚨 This week’s events 

2 May, Essex – Health and Digital Literacy Hub