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

⌚ Google has announced the launch of an AI-powered personal health coach on Fit Bit, built with Gemini. The firm said that the new feature will act “a fitness trainer, a sleep coach and a health and wellness advisor”.

🤝  NHS England has signed a deal with tech partner Aire Logic for a range of tools and digital patient communications to support its online services dedicated to preventative healthcare. The two-year, near-£80m deal came into effect on 1 August 2025.

👩‍💻 East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust is planning to go live with its Epic electronic patient record on 2 October 2025. Staff at Ipswich Hospital and Colchester Hospital are receiving training on how to use the new system.

💏NHS National Services Scotland has opened market research into a new national sexual health digital system to replace its existing system. Responses are invited up to 8 September 2025, with an estimated date of contract notice publication in April 2026.

🏥  Views are being sought from nurses, student nurses, patients and tech professionals focused on digital technology skills. The request, from Liverpool John Moores University in partnership with Nursing Times, aims to ensure future nursing courses taken into account digital technology advances.

🚗  The NHS is set to receive £8 million from the government’s recently announced £63m investment in electric vehicle infrastructure. The money will be split across 62 NHS trusts and around 224 sites to deliver electric charge points at NHS sites and support its goal of a fully decarbonised fleet by 2040.

❓Did you know?

Polaris Market Research has predicted that the digital health market is set to top $2,121.82 billion by 2034.

In a report, published in August 2025, it identifies a CAGR of 22.1%, based on the digital health market’s value of $288.70 billion in 2024.

It also highlights some of the key factors it believes is driving the market growth, including global government policies, funding and national strategies to accelerate the adoption of digital healthcare technologies.

Technological progress is also a huge catalyst with innovations like cloud computing, advanced mobile connectivity, AI and big data analytics enabling more powerful and sophisticated digital health solutions.

Digital health is also addressing the increasing demand for remote and more accessible healthcare by providing tools for real-time patient monitoring and virtual consultations, a trend that is contributing to the market’s growth.

📖 What we’re reading

An article, published by Progress Education Trust on 4 August 2025, explores the promises made in the NHS 10 year health plan around newborn genomics.

The plan, published on 3 July 2025, suggests a pilot programme to sequence the genomes of newborns, aiming to revolutionise healthcare through prevention and early intervention.

This programme is framed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save lives by enabling early medical intervention.

Proponents also see the potential for using polygenic risk scores — which analyse thousands of genetic variants — to identify individuals at a higher risk for common diseases like diabetes or heart disease, allowing for more targeted screening and care throughout a person’s life.

However, Zeenat Beebeejaun, assistant professor of law and PhD candidate, notes that while transformative, the initiative “raises urgent concerns regarding ethics, science, and equity that must not be overlooked”,

She argues that the plan raises significant ethical and logistical concerns and questions the limited predictive accuracy of polygenic scores, particularly in non-European populations, which could exacerbate existing health disparities.

The article also highlights the need for a substantial investment in infrastructure and a better-trained workforce with higher genomic literacy to ensure patient safety and equitable access.

🚨Upcoming events

22 August 2025, online event – Digital nursing and the 10 year plan