PHARMACEUTICAL STRATEGY FOR EUROPE ANNOUNCED

The European Commission has adopted a Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe to ensure patients have access to innovative and cost-effective medicines in the ever-changing healthcare landscape.

The strategy aims to support the capacity and sustainability of the EU's pharmaceutical needs in times of crisis, through robust supply chains.

As part of ensuring that the EU's pharmaceutical policy continues to serve public health through scientific and commercial transformations, it will aim to also support patient-centred innovations and accommodate digital and technological change.  

Amongst the flagship actions of the strategy, the creation of a robust digital infrastructure, including a proposal for a European Health Data Space (target date for a proposal: 2021), was highlighted as an area of focus.

NORTH WEST TRUSTS TO PIONEER NEW APPROACH TO STAFFING

An NHS temporary staffing initiative led by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS trust, will see the creation of a North West Doctors in Training Collaborative Staff Bank.

The new bank will enable up to 35 trusts in the region to reduce reliance on agencies and instead broadcast shifts to the 5,500 clinical trainees already working within the North West’s network of hospitals. These clinicians will be able to e-passport their credentials between participating trusts, enabling staff to be rapidly redeployed in line with need.

The Collaborative Staff Bank will act as a secondary bank for participating hospitals, allowing them to broadcast shifts they’ve been unable to fill through their own primary hospital bank. This additional ‘staffing safety net’ will help reduce spend on external locum agencies and minimise the administrative burden for NHS teams and clinicians.

TARA DONNELLY CONFIRMED AS NHSX CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

Following an external recruitment process, Tara Donnelly has been confirmed as NHX's chief digital officer.

Following the departure of Juliet Bauer, Donnelly was appointed as interim chief digital officer (CDO) at NHS England in January 2019.

The role then moved across to NHSX, where she helped set it up in April 2019 and has since led the adoption and scale of innovation in health and care.

In an email confirming her appointment, seen by Digital Health News, NHSX chief executive Matthew Gould said Donnelly is “leading to drive remote monitoring has the potential to be genuinely transformative”.

RSCI AND BD EXPAND PAEDIATRIC SURGERY IN MALAWI

The RCSI Institute of Global Surgery and global medical technology company, BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (BD) announced KidSURG, a joint initiative aimed at improving paediatric surgical services across Southern Malawi.

Created in collaboration with Malawian paediatric surgeon, Professor Eric Borgstein, the KidSURG initiative will develop a paediatric surgical network in Southern Malawi, to expand surgical access to 8 million children.

The KidSURG initiative will train healthcare workers to deliver pre-referral care for complex paediatric surgical patients, and deliver safe surgery for some of the most common surgical procedures needed by children.

BD has donated $500K (€419K) in cash and surgical products to support the initiative.

SUPERDRUG LAUNCHES MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE APP

UK health and beauty retailer, Superdrug has announced the launch of a doctor-led mental health consultation app with the aim of helping people receive access to mental health support. 

MindCare from Superdrug Online Doctor offers people video consultation where they can confidentially discuss their mental health and a doctor can help guide them to support that matches their needs. 

Through the app consultation, the doctor is able to suggest therapies that will help with a person’s condition such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), as well as providing private referrals if needed.

In the app, Superdrug is also signposting to two emotional support charities, Shout and Samaritans, to provide free support for anyone who is struggling to cope.

ALCIDION EXPANDS PARTNERSHIP WITH NEXTGATE TO UK MARKET

Australian smart health tech provider, Alcidion has announced an expansion of its reseller agreement with NextGate to include the UK and Ireland.

Following a successful two-year relationship which started in 2018, this agreement has now been extended to also include the UK and Ireland.

The expansion of the agreement to the UK and Ireland will further strengthen Alcidion’s ability to support NHS trusts, health boards and region-wide integrated care systems.

The news follows the Alcidion’s formal launch this summer of its Miya Precision product as the first smart clinical asset for the NHS. 

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL SELECTS SERVELEC

Hampshire County Council has selected Servelec's Mosaic case management software, for children’s social care. In addition, the Council will use Servelec’s Conexes, a cloud-based interoperability platform, to enable Mosaic to interface with other systems.

Hampshire County Council stated they wanted a children’s social care case management system that was "flexible, adaptable and forward-looking."

Mosaic’s intuitive workflow means social workers are guided through the necessary processes, helping to ensure they are equipped to flag issues and make the right decisions for children at the right time.

Social workers will also be able to get a joined-up view of each young person’s situation and their environment because Conexes will enable Mosaic to talk to other systems to pull together key information.