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

💨 Alesi Surgical, a surgical technology company tackling surgical smoke in operating theatres, has successfully closed a £7m funding round led by IW Capital and supported by existing shareholders, IP Group and Mercia Ventures. Alesi’s Ultravision platform uses electrostatic precipitation to actively remove smoke as it is generated rather than relying on suction and mechanical filtration.

🔎 Bupa has integrated Skin Analytics’ DERM into its at-home skin assessment service for moles and lesions, to give customers faster access to results for potential skin cancer concerns. DERM is CE-marked as a Class III medical device for autonomous use in cancer pathways and the developers say it can deliver a risk assessment in less than a minute, with 99.9% accuracy in ruling out melanoma.

🪰 A cyber espionage group known as UAC-0247 is targeting Ukrainian hospitals and emergency medical services using a malware strain called AgingFly, according to security experts. Matei Badanoiu, senior security researcher at Pentest-Tools.com, said: “The technically interesting part is that, to reduce size and be less detectable by static analysis solutions, the malware doesn’t include any built-in command handlers and instead extends itself with this functionality at runtime.”

🚑 The charity Kidney Research UK has invested in medical technology company Scuba Tx to support development of an organ transport system that counters damage caused by variations in temperature and oxygen depletion. Scuba Tx’s platform maintains organs in a controlled environment, with a precise temperature system and providing oxygen via cannulation and preservation fluid.

🙇‍♀️ Mental health platform Dr-Julian has received funding from NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to provide 24/7 access to wellbeing tools, specialist clinicians, and virtual appointments for patients referred by the region’s NHS WorkWell advisors. The initiative forms part of the region’s £19m NHS WorkWell programme, aimed at helping people address health problems that make it harder for them to stay in or return to work.

❓ Did you know that?

A report claims the adoption of AI is accelerating in the UK, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of organisations now using it – up from 52% last year and well ahead of the European average of 54%.

Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) “Unlocking the UK’s AI Potential” report also reveals that 68% of adopters report productivity gains, 72% expect AI to increase their ability to grow in the coming year, and 79% say their innovation timelines have accelerated.

But the report, conducted by independent consultancy, Strand Partners, and commissioned by AWS, found that most organisations are still using AI for basic purposes, such as speeding up routine tasks or answering simple queries with chatbots.

The authors state that 24% of adopters have integrated AI into core business processes and decision-making and claims the economic value of AI scales with depth of use, adding that closing the gap between basic and advanced AI adoption could unlock an estimated additional £35 billion in economic growth by 2030 for the UK.

🎧What we’re listening to

The latest NICE Talks podcast features interviews with people whose lives have been transformed by NICE-recommended healthtech.

These include Ammaarah Ahmed and Aleix Rowlandson, who both benefit from a hybrid closed loop system for type 1 diabetes, Peter Hooper, who was fitted with an implantable cardiac monitor to detect atrial fibrillation following his stroke, Becky Ridley and her baby Ginny, who benefitted from a rapid genetic test to help prevent hearing loss caused by a common antibiotic, and Caroline Knight, who uses one-piece colostomy bags following bowel surgery.

NICE’s chief executive, Jonathan Benger, also speaks about Nice’s plans to support faster, fairer healthtech adoption across the NHS.

🚨 Upcoming events

• 28 April 2026, Online – Understanding the NHS Management and Leadership Framework in Practice
• 13 May 2026 – Bristol NHS Group’s Local Health Tech Showcase
• 21 May 2026, Online – Scaling excellence through digital pathway standardisation