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

🤖 Nuffield Health‘s Woking Hospital will soon become its ninth site to offer aquablation therapy, a robotic-assisted treatment to treat patients with enlarged prostates, also known as Benign Prostate Hyperplasia. It has invested more than £2m in the therapy across its UK hospitals.

🚚 NHS Supply Chain is supporting the NHS to treat cancer patients quicker with the supply of 28 linear accelerator radiotherapy systems in 2025/2026 to NHS cancer centres across the country. The organisation, which is responsible for sourcing, delivering, and supplying healthcare products, services, and food to NHS trusts and healthcare providers across England and Wales, is rolling out the new technology with the backing of centralised funding from NHS England.

🧑‍💻 UK digital personal health record platform Patients Know Best has announced that it is on track to hit six million registered patients’ subscribers. It was one of the first platforms to be integrated into the NHS App and around one in four patients log into PKB via the app at least once a month.

⌨ Oxford University has spearheaded the launch of the Equinox (Equitable Innovation Oxford) initiative to establish Oxford as a global centre for innovation and entrepreneurship.  The organisation is formed of more than 40 regional partners including Oxfordshire County Council, the Ellison Institute of Technology, Oxford University Innovation, Moderna, Oxford Science Enterprises, and Siemens Healthineers.

🧑‍🎤 Clinical workflow solutions supplier Voice Technologies has announced a strategic partnership with Corti, a global company developing AI infrastructure for healthcare. Voice Technologies will take the lead in integrating Corti’s AI models into its two healthcare apps: WinVoice, which streamlines document creation and workflow management, and FormStream, which turns paper forms into web-based processes.

❓ Did you know that?

Research from digital health diagnostics company PocDoc found that more than three-quarters (77%) of women in the UK do not consider cardiovascular disease (CVD) a major concern, demonstrating a dangerous misconception about the nation’s biggest killer.

According to the research, gathered from more than 2,000 UK women, 70% of women are unaware that CVD is the leading cause of female deaths globally, and 25% of women still see it as predominantly a male condition.

The data also reveal that women view breast cancer, mental health issues, and ovarian cancer as higher health risks than CVD.

Steve Roest, co-founder and chief executive of PocDoc, said: “By providing accessible, quick, and accurate tools like the Healthy Heart Check, we can empower women to take control of their heart health, identify risk factors early, and access vital care pathways when needed.

“Ultimately, our mission is to prevent avoidable health conditions and save lives, one test at a time.”

The research was conducted by Censuswide in October 2025 among a sample of 2,000 nationally representative UK women aged 16-years-old and older.

🎧 What we’re listening to

In a podcast from law firm Bristows, Sophie Rees, Anna Honey, and Gabriela Necula outline the main early-stage funding options available to UK-based FemTech companies and highlights key legal considerations at each stage.

Technology which focuses on women’s health and wellness, is experiencing rapid growth in the UK. Out of the 540 active FemTech start-ups in Europe in 2023, 31.8% were based in the UK, and the UK is ranked second globally, behind the US, in terms of investment in the FemTech sector.

The three lawyers discuss the opportunities, such as crowdfunding, accelerators and grant funders, and challenges faced by Femtech, with the global market expected to surpass $100bn dollars by 2030.

🚨 Upcoming events

16 January 2025, virtual event – Digital Tools Proven to Shift to Wellness and Prevention