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

🚨 NHS England’s Digitising Social Care programme has published guidance aimed at adult care providers for the use of AI in the sector. The guidance covers the use of AI in care delivery, such as sensor-based tech and facial recognition for pain management, as well as in support services and admin functions.

🧰 Cognizant has launched TriZetto AI Gateway, a tool to support healthcare organisations integrate generative AI into their operations seamlessly. The tools aims to simplify workflows, reduce the administrative burden and make care delivery more efficient.

💷 Liverpool City Region’s innovation commercialisation vehicle, LYVA Labs, has expanded its fund to £7 million, having reached a £2.5m investment milestone following the backing of 26 regional startups since its inception in 2022. It has £4.5m ready to be deployed and is expanding its focus from health and life sciences to include clean tech and deep tech.

🖨️ The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with 3D 360 Ltd to deliver hands-on 3D printing Skills Bootcamp training under the Greater Manchester Combined Authority funded initiative. As a result engineering staff and apprentices at the trust will be able to produce custom surgical models and implants in-house, which will enhance patient care and streamline workflows.

➕First Databank’s medicines optimisation solution, FDB OptimiseRx, has facilitated more than £500m in cost savings across NHS primary care services since launching in 2024, according to a press release. The tool is designed to support safer, more cost-effective prescribing.

❓Did you know?

In its recent report, ‘The True Cost’, Cellnex UK data has shed light on the significant impact of poor digital infrastructure on frontline healthcare professionals.

The research reveals that persistent connectivity issues, such as unreliable Wi-Fi and mobile signals, are costing UK healthcare workers an average of over 122 hours annually, which is equivalent to 17 full working days.

A survey of 500 healthcare professionals, carried out in June 2025, found that more than half (56%) believe these delays have directly affected their ability to provide urgent care.

The data indicate that, on average, staff lose 31 minutes per day to connectivity-related issues. The problem is particularly acute in GP practices, where 76% of staff lose between 20 minutes and an hour daily, with 12% losing up to two hours. Among hospital staff, nearly one in four (24%) face connectivity challenges every day.

The findings also illustrate a link between these technological frustrations and staff wellbeing, suggesting that a lack of reliable connectivity contributes to staff burnout.

According to Nick Bagshaw, business development manager at Cellnex UK, this research highlights a challenge that is often “invisible but deeply felt.”

He added: “As healthcare becomes increasingly digital, underscored by recent government investment in NHS technology and infrastructure, reliable connectivity must be seen as a must-have, not a nice-to-have.”

📖  What we’re reading

In a blog for Patient Safety Learning, published on 6 August 2025, Claire Cox, the organisation’s associate director, explores the opportunities to improve patient safety as well as the risks associated with the use of barcode technology in healthcare.

Cox underscores the value of barcode technology in the sector while also acknowledging that it can and does go wrong, leaving patients at risk.

She highlights some of the challenges healthcare professionals face – including malfunctioning scanners, whole systems going down, workflow disruptions, an overreliance on technology and the use of workarounds to tackle some of the issues.

Cox notes that healthcare teams must have the confidence to speak up about risks, inefficiencies and errors without the fear of being punished.

🚨Upcoming events

5 September 2025, online event – Bridging the Digital Divide: Leadership strategies for cross-sector collaboration to reduce health inequalities