Digitisation of Healthcare and Medical Technologies

Digitisation of Healthcare and Medical Technologies: State of the Nation Report 2021
Public Policy Institute, Future of Health 16 February 2021

• This report collates real-world evidence from case studies, insights from roundtables and reports on progress from the frontline of healthcare delivery to make a case for a technology enabled future for health and care. A series of 12 policy recommendations have been drawn out of the report.
• This report is Phase one of an annual report series supported by events, roundtable discussions and deep-dive policy documents aimed at implementing wider healthcare ecosystem collaboration. Phase Two of the report (to be launched later in 2021) will produce an implementation matrix for the delivery of the policy and strategic recommendations outlined in Phase One, in partnership with NHS Digital and NHSX.

AI Roadmap

AI Roadmap
AI Council 6 January 2021

• An independent report, carried out by the AI Council, providing recommendations to help the government's strategic direction on AI. The roadmap includes 16 recommendations to government around Research development & innovation, Skills and Diversity, Data, Infrastructure and Public Trust and National, Cross-sector Adoption.

How COVID-19 catalysed digital health trends

How COVID-19 Catalysed Digital Health Trends
The Medical Futurist, 19 November 2020

• A look at a few of the digital technologies which stand out  from the COVID-19 pandemic including telemedicine and artificial intelligence.

The digital revolution: eight technologies that will change health and care

The digital revolution: eight technologies that will change health and care
Kings Fund 13 November 2020

• Smartphones and wearables; At-home or portable diagnostics; Smart or implantable drug delivery mechanisms; Digital therapeutics and immersive technologies; Genome sequencing; Artificial intelligence; Robotics and automation; The connected community.

The Future of Public Health - National Institute for Health Protection

The Future of Public Health
Highlights from Matt Hancock’s speech to Policy Exchange, 18 August 2020
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVwycS5y4w
Full transcript here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-future-of-public-health

• Matt Hancock commends the exceptional work of the public health services during the Coronavirus pandemic however acknowledges that the UK did not have the capacity to response to the threat. The changes he describes are designed to strengthen public health in the UK going forward.
• From today (18 August) Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the analytical capability of the Joint Biosecurity Centre will form the new National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP)
• The mission of NIHP will be “protecting people to external threats to this country’s health” to give “a stronger and more joined up response”
• “Dedicated to the investigation and prevention of infectious diseases and external health threats.”
• NIHP will bring together infrastructure around science, response and analytics.
• NIHP will report directly to Ministers, support the clinical leadership of the four CMOs of the devolved countries and work closely with local PH Directors and their teams. “More than the sum of the parts”
• A consultation will be held around how to embed health improvement more widely (ie the other functions of PHE around health improvement eg obesity strategy). 

CRUK Open Lab Initiative

CRUK Open Lab Initiative
CRUK

• The CRUK Open Lab Initiative is a digital tool which connects research groups with shared interests to generate new collaborations and spark discussions. The pilot phase, which launched in April 2020, successfully paired over 50 research groups.
• The tool is now available to researchers across the UK, enabling virtual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

Matt Hancock: The future of healthcare

Speech: The future of healthcare
DHSC 30 July 2020

• Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock spoke at the Royal College of Physicians about the future of healthcare. Lessons learnt over the past few months.
• Lesson 1: value our people
• Lesson 2: bust bureaucracy
• Lesson 3: better tech means better healthcare
• Lesson 4 Open borders
• Lesson 5: no trust is an island
• Lesson 6: accountability matters
• Lesson 7: the nation’s health is bigger than just the NHS

Bringing NHS data analysis into the 21st century

Bringing NHS data analysis into the 21st century
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 16 July 2020 https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076820930666

• "Data have been widely hailed as ‘the raw material of the 21st century’ and ‘better use of data’ is a central feature of the NHS Long Term Plan. Yet, data alone does not produce insights. To capitalise on opportunities to improve health and care, we need the data and outstanding data analysis. However, policymakers and academia have almost exclusively focused on pure academic research around the aetiology of disease; the field of practical coalface analytics has been largely neglected."
• To address these concerns Ben Goldacre etal set out to: 
• (i) identify the technical, cultural and regulatory barriers to the better use of analysis; 
• (ii) identify potential solutions to these barriers; 
• (iii) frame these barriers and solutions as action statements in a standard format (‘specific person/organisation should do this specific thing so that this specific outcome can be achieved.’); 
• (iv) outline what successful change would look like in the format of ‘we'll know we’ve won when’ statements.

Creating a shared vision and way forward for population health management

Creating a shared vision and way forward for population health management [blog]
Imperial College Health Partners 22 June 2020

• Dr Chris Russell, Innovation Delivery Lead, and Lena Woldmann, Innovation Advisor, outline their PHM journey so far with the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System (ICS).

People led, health, care and local services

People led, health, care and local services
The RSA
The RSA is exploring the opportunities for change that the COVID-19 crisis has created to make health, care and local services work better for their communities.

Other RSA programmes include:

• The Future of Work Centre - which is examining the drivers behind the ‘good work gap’; what impact will radical technologies have on the workplace ; and how can we modernise our social contract so that it prepares workers for these shifts?
• Health as a social movement - a programme which explored how the health service can move beyond a purely biomedical understanding of health, with prevention at its core. Working initially with six new care model vanguards across England, NHS England with three national partners (The RSA, the New Economics Foundation and Nesta) tested and spread effective ways to contributing to the momentum for change in the health system in England.

Getting the NHS back on track: planning for the next phase of COVID-19

Getting the NHS back on track: planning for the next phase of COVID-19
NHS Confederation 10 June 2020

• An outline of the key challenges that local organisations will face over the coming months and suggestions of some changes in policy and practice that will be required as the NHS prepares to restart a wide range of services either paused or stopped when the pandemic struck.

Digital transformation in the NHS

Digital transformation in the NHS
NAO 15 May 2020
This report was prepared before the Coronavirus pandemic and published with agreement of DHSC.
This report describes the current state of digital services in the NHS and examines the readiness of the NHS to deliver digital transformation, focusing on:

• strategy and implementation plans, including lessons from past strategies and progress made to date;
• the governance of digital transformation;
• financial and human resources; and
• technical challenges.

Lifting lockdown: how to approach a coronavirus exit strategy

Lifting lockdown: how to approach a coronavirus exit strategy
Institute for Government 30 April 2020

• This report warns that the government’s five tests for starting to lift the lockdown are not a good enough guide to the longer-term exit strategy. It suggests that the government must instead set out new tests that explain how it will balance economic and health concerns in lifting the restrictions.

How to create real, lasting change after COVID-19

How to create real, lasting change after COVID-19
RSA 29 April 2020

• Thinking through the measures that we’ve all taken in response to Covid-19 in four categories - stopping activity, pausing activity, temporary measures, and new innovations – can help us focus on what’s worked and what can last.
• Based on : Understanding crisis-response measures: Collective Sense-making Ian Burbidge, RSA

Restructured society and environment: A review on potential technological strategies to control the COVID-19 pandemic

Restructured society and environment: A review on potential technological strategies to control the COVID-19 pandemic
Science of The Total Environment 23 April 2020, 138858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138858

• The intention of our study is to uncover the hidden roles of technologies that ultimately help for controlling the pandemic.
• Highlights
• The technology shift occurred in society during the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence.
• Technology-based strategies in controlling the pandemic and to support the society.
• Key technologies include Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning, supply chain, communication and surveillance.
• Potential roles of IoT, Drone &Robotic technologies and mobile applications.
• Influence of existing technologies, challenges and future impacts on society.
• See graphical abstract.

Abstract

Unleashing The Digital Premium

Unleashing The Digital Premium
Good Governance Institute February 2020

• The paper sets out the case for unleashing the digital premium in order to achieve innovation and radical impact across housing, health and care. 

What Good Looks Like for population health programmes

What Good Looks Like
Association of Directors of Public Health, Public Health England 30 September 2019

• A series of ‘What Good Looks Like’ (WGLL) publications that set out the guiding principles of ‘what good quality looks like’ for population health programmes in local systems.
• The WGLL publications are based on the evidence of ‘what works and how it works’ including effectiveness, efficiency, equity, examples of best practices, opinions and viewpoints and, where available a return on investment.
• Current documents, others will be added: 
• What Good Children and Young People’s Public Health Looks Like
• What Good Local Tobacco Control Looks Like
• What Good Healthy Weight Looks Like
• What Good Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Looks Like
• What Good Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Provision Looks Like
• What Good Public Mental Health Looks Like
• What Good Health at Work Looks Like

iHuman perspective: Neural interfaces

iHuman perspective: Neural interfaces
Royal Society 10 September 2019

• This Royal Society Perspective takes a future-facing look into possible applications of neural and brain-computer interfaces, exploring the potential benefits and risks of the technologies and setting out a course towards maximising the former and minimising the latter.
• For more information on the public dialogue and to download a selection of in-depth science papers on neural interfaces, visit: iHuman Supplementary Material.
• Click here to see an interactive timeline of the history of neural interfaces.