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

💟 The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has introduced the first SOMATOM Pro.Pulse CT scanner from Siemens Healthineers in the UK to improve access to cardiac care. The strategic move brings specialist cardiac diagnostics closer to patients, reducing waiting times, easing pressure on hospital services, and enabling earlier detection and treatment of heart conditions within local settings.

🫁 Digital transformation specialist Storm ID has announced software that aims to digitise and accelerate the diagnosis and treatment pathway for patients with severe asthma. The launch of Storm Diagnostics pathway is being deployed within the NHS Humber Health Partnership to underpin its severe asthma pathway.

🩸The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle has become the first in the UK to implant Abbott’s Esprit BTK dissolving stent, a treatment for peripheral artery disease which affects one in five adults over 60. The stent, made from material similar to dissolving stitches, restores blood flow below the knee and then naturally dissolves, reducing the risk of complications and repeat procedures.

🔬United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has equipped its three Community Diagnostics Centres in Lincoln, Skegness, and Grantham with CT and ultrasound technology from Canon Medical Systems. The move is intended to bring essential diagnostic services closer to patients and reduce wait times.

🛫Propel Healthtech West Yorkshire is inviting health tech innovators to apply for its accelerator programme. The programme is free for successful applicants and provides enhanced business support, regulatory guidance, NHS networking, and scaled growth advice. The accelerator has recently been allocated £4.5m in funding from the West Yorkshire Mayor’s investment Zone.

❓ Did you know?

Researchers claim hand gesture controls being developed for the next generation of virtual and augmented reality systems risk excluding millions of people.

Hand gesture controls being developed for the next generation of virtual and augmented reality systems risk excluding millions of people, including those with common conditions such as arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

The study from the University of Bath warns that freehand controls such as pinching, swiping and pressing virtual buttons – gestures widely used in virtual reality and augmented reality programmes – are often inaccessible, painful, or tiring for people with even mild upper limb impairments.

Lauren Pococke, lead author of the paper and PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at Bath, said:  “These systems are being designed with a very narrow idea of what a ‘typical’ user looks like.

“If we don’t act now, we risk building future technologies that are effectively unusable for huge parts of the population.”

📖 What we’re reading

Elsevier has shared the results of its global Researcher of the Future survey, offering insight into how researchers view the rapidly evolving research landscape.

The report draws on insights from more than 3,200 academic and corporate researchers across 113 countries, as part of Elsevier’s focus on understanding the challenges and opportunities for the global research community.

It found that only 45% of researchers agree they have sufficient time for research and 68% say the pressure to publish their research is greater than two to three years ago.

Although 58% use AI tools in their work – compared with 37% in 2024 – only 32% of researchers globally believe there is good AI governance at their institution.

Judy Verses, president, academic & government markets at Elsevier: “This study offers a clear picture of researchers’ eagerness to innovate and commitment to upholding trust and ethical standards despite the increasing pressures they face.

“Researchers see AI as a powerful tool to transform how they work and boost impact, but they need solutions they can trust that prioritize research integrity, accuracy and accountability.”

🚨 Upcoming events

3 December 2025, Online – NHS Supply Chain Cybersecurity – moving beyond baseline compliance