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News round-up (8 January)

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8th January 2021 about a 3 minute read

Here are some of the headlines that caught our eye this week….

Rules on sharing patient information made clearer

Nursing Standard reports that the NHS has created an online portal to offer staff clearer guidance on sharing patient information.

The Information Governance Portal covers issues such as consent to sharing, protecting confidentiality, home working and data protection.

Set up by NHS England’s technology improvement body NHSX and aimed at nurses and other health and care staff, it also includes tips for mobile messaging and video conferencing with patients or service users.

NICE briefings on AI in healthcare

NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) has published a medtech innovation briefing (MIB) on artificial intelligence for analysing chest CT images.

The software helps radiologists and radiographers detect abnormalities in chest CT images.

NICE also published a briefing on five (AI) technologies for mammography. 

These can help to select mammography images that need further diagnostic tests to see whether detected features in the image are malignant.

Wristwatch diabetes monitoring device closer to launch

Med-Tech Innovation News reports on the development of a watch-like device for people with diabetes enabling them to check their blood sugar without piercing the skin.

The device, from Afon Technology, could be commercially available from mid 2022.

According to research £5.5 billion of the NHS hospitals budget is spent on diabetes, and poor diabetes control was responsible for £3 billion in potentially avoidable hospital treatment in England in the year 2017-2018.

New funding for innovative space tech to help solve problems on Earth

The UK Space Agency and the Scottish Secretary of State have announced funding for new tech to make buildings more efficient, reduce ship carbon emissions and help preserve historical sites. 

Among the schemes is a project  at the University of Leicester using a novel machine learning solution to improve the accuracy of clean room monitoring, and to efficiently report problems in real time.

Digital City Awards to reward global excellence across tech innovation, creative, social responsibility

The Prolific North website flags up this year’s Digital City awards which will highlight some of the best digital projects and platforms in the digital industry.

The awards are open to innovators in healthcare, VR, and eCommerce. The deadline for ‘earlybird’ entries is January 31.

“Studies suggest the active ingredient of productivity gains is not technology, it’s good management." Health Foundation Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon

After the COVID storm: Where next for the NHS?

ICYMI before Christmas …. the Health Foundation did a podcast (chaired by it’s Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon) with Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive of Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Nick Timmins, author and former journalist, and currently Senior Policy Fellow at The King’s Fund.