Category Archives: Healthcare

Healthcare, Healthcare Tech, News

Securing what matters most: healthcare devices ensuring patient safety

Written by Phil Howe, CTO, Core to Cloud

COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of the healthcare industry and is helping healthcare organisations to adapt to the new reality and offer effective patient care. Now, virtual healthcare tools have been widely implemented to improve healthcare delivery and quality, reduce costs, increase care efficiency, and boost revenue.   The Internet of Things (IoT) is just one technology that is helping to improve the quality of input information and analysis. Today a range of connected medical devices are being utilised across the healthcare industry, but these devices need to be protected to ensure patient safety.

 

The challenges around securing medical devices

However, this is easier said than done. Securing medical devices on clinical networks is not straightforward and is compounded by problems such as:

  • security updates, patches and potentially virus signatures must be properly assessed by the supplier and confirmed as safe before they can be implemented on the medical device. This can take three months from the time that a security update is released.
  • when security updates are released, they are retro-analysed by attackers, increasing the likelihood that exploitable vulnerabilities will become known.
  • the latest security mitigations not being present increases the impact of vulnerabilities, making exploitation more likely to succeed, and making detection of any exploitation more difficult.

 

Finding a clientless way to secure devices

NHS Trusts need to find a way to protect these devices while tackling the challenges outlined above. However most devices can’t be scanned in real-time, because if they are taken out of service this could impact patient care. Therefore, Trusts need a clientless way to secure devices, provide an overview of vulnerabilities, as well as granular device information on aspects like utilisation and segmentation.

This is one of the reasons why we partnered with Cylera, a leading IoT healthcare cybersecurity provider.  Cylera’s MedCommand platform is purpose-built to solve these technological and operational challenges. The platform delivers real-time visibility, inventory, operational intelligence, risk and vulnerability analysis, risk mitigation, segmentation, and threat detection and response.

Additionally, the platform’s capability is unified through a central management console to streamline operations and provide value across multiple sites and teams.

 

Creating a virtual digital twin

But what is really clever is that Cylera learns the behaviour of each medical device and creates a virtual digital twin.  Then it leverages industry standard and proprietary scanning technology to scan the digital twin, 24 x 7, and notify the Trust in real-time of vulnerabilities and threats, anomalous behaviour as well as outdated firmware and so much more.

Likewise, Cylera’s Patented Adaptive Data Type Analysis automatically identifies Zero Day devices and Zero Day protocols. So, if a new, never before seen type of medical device is speaking to a new, unknown protocol which is dropped onto their network, it will identify it and proactively notify the customer about the device and its physical location, reducing exposure to unknown risks from that device. And it automates the manual labour-intensive task of creating policies, reducing time to mitigate risk and improving productivity, as well as providing deep medical device utilisation analytics that can be used to optimise patient scheduling.

 

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

One great example of the Platform in action is Dartford and Gravesham (DGT) NHS Trust who, through Core to Cloud, chose Cylera to safeguard its medical device and IoT infrastructure. As one of the key hospital trusts in North Kent, DGT provides acute and outpatient services. DGT recognised the need to identify and secure its medical devices as a top priority. However, other more generalist solutions considered could scan networks and inventory devices, but only Cylera provided the ability to examine and quantify real-time risks to patient safety and clinical services, align with regulatory requirements, and optimise clinical workflows and devices, all in one simplified platform.

 

Why not join us?

If you are interested in finding out more, why not join our LinkedIn Live event: Securing what matters most: healthcare devices ensuring patient safety on 27th July at 4.00 pm BST and understand how you can better secure your connected environment. To register click here.

Healthcare, Job Opportunities, Jobs, News

Northampton healthcare charity launches scholarships to attract “talented” young people into mental health nursing

“Talented nurses of the future” are being offered scholarships to pursue a nursing career in mental health and learning disability.

St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton, the UK’s largest mental health charity and a provider of specialist care in mental health and learning disability, has launched a new nursing scholarship initiative.

The three-and-a-half-year programme is called ASPIRE Nursing and there are 10 scholarships available. It is aimed at 18-24 year olds who are passionate about a career in nursing and have the drive to attend university, but who do not have the financial support or qualifications needed.

Students will be provided with the equivalent of £9,000 worth of education, paid employment for 18 months and exposure to clinical work. They will also attend university and be given £18,000 per year in financial support while studying. Once they have gained their BSc (Hons) degree, they are guaranteed a staff nurse position at St Andrew’s Healthcare and will benefit from excellent career development and progression opportunities.

Students will join St Andrew’s as Healthcare Assistants, working within clinical settings to gain experience. They will complete a Certificate in Higher Education in their first year, which enables them to transition into the second year of a nursing degree either in mental health or learning disability nursing.

Ged Rogers, Clinical Education Manager at St Andrew’s, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for young people to start a career in mental health or learning disability nursing with a leading mental health charity that offers high-quality holistic services within outstanding facilities.

“With this scholarship, people can earn while learning on the job. It is ideal for those who may not have the A level grades they wanted, or those who missed out on opportunities due to the pandemic.

“Mental health and learning disability nursing are growing areas within healthcare with great career opportunities. We are looking for the talented nurses of the future to bring compassion and enthusiasm and become part of our healthcare teams, delivering brilliant care and helping transform the lives of our patients. We encourage young people who are ambitious and looking for an alternative route into nursing to apply. We will support our students at every step of the way.”

Candidates must have a good GCSE grade in Maths and English (Grade 4 minimum). The closing date for applications is Sunday, August 15, 2021. For more information click here.

The nursing scholarship is an extension of the hugely successful ASPIRE Programme which St Andrew’s Healthcare launched in 2016. It enables healthcare assistants to combine their learning and experience and jump straight into the second year of the University of Northampton’s Mental Health Nursing degree – allowing them to complete a nursing degree in just two years.

Former builder Simon Austin signed up to the ASPIRE programme after he decided to change his career. The 44-year-old, who is about to graduate and start his staff nurse position at St Andrew’s in September, said: “St Andrew’s is a great place to work with excellent facilities. It is very focused on training and helping people to progress. I started out as a healthcare assistant and never intended on becoming a qualified nurse. However, I did various training courses which built up my confidence academically, and then decided to take the next step in my career. It has been a fantastic opportunity for me.

John Barry Waldon has completed the ASPIRE programme and is now a senior staff nurse at St Andrew’s. For John, the programme was a second chance to have a career in nursing. Previously he went to university to study nursing but dropped out age 26 for financial reasons. He worked at St Andrew’s as a healthcare assistant for many years before starting the programme, which he describes as an ‘amazing opportunity’.

As part of his degree, John created a podcast called On the Ward featuring mental health patients. The podcast has attracted over 20,000 listeners and won The Student Nursing Times Awards 2020 for the best Student Innovation in Practice.

Another ASPIRE graduate is Amanda Gardner who qualified as a mental health nurse two and half years ago and now works at St Andrew’s Healthcare.

Amanda says, “After working as a healthcare assistant I was keen to progress my career. I worked alongside nurses at St Andrew’s who inspired and encouraged me to become a nurse. ASPIRE offered the perfect combination of the financial support and pastoral care. As a mature student, with a family to support, I couldn’t have funded myself through university. This was the ideal alternative route into nursing, and I qualified without any student debt or student loan which was a bonus for me.”

To find out about vacancies across Northamptonshire visit http://bestofbothworlds.uk.net/

Healthcare, News

What does the future of system recovery in healthcare look like?

Resilient services, collaborative working, and better support for staff, experts say

As system recovery planning sits at the centre of healthcare services post-COVID, experts look to create foundations of support to tackle the growing demand, including setting realistic targets, working within communities to utilise resources, and ensure staff wellbeing is at the forefront of initiatives.

In Connect Health’s latest Change webinar, leading healthcare experts explored the future of healthcare services, looking at how system recovery can support patients, staff, communities, and the wider system.

The event was chaired by Dr Graeme Wilkes, Chief Medical Officer at Connect Health. Providing opening remarks, Dr Wilkes said: “We have an expert panel, but in reality none of us are truly expert in how to come out from a pandemic. We’re using our past experiences to deal with a new situation of uncertainty. The key principles of uncertainty are, tell the truth and give people hope.”

He welcomed guest speaker, Ken Bremner MBE, Chief Executive at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, who explored supporting staff during system recovery.

He said: “Collaboration is the watchword for system recovery – and that’s collaboration at all levels. In the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) we have around 18,200 people waiting over 52 weeks for surgery and almost half of these fall into either Ophthalmology or Trauma and Orthopaedics. They are therefore a big focus for us along with those Priority(P)2 cases that have been waiting over a month for treatment. The total waiting list for the ICS is now around 260,000 but we are aiming to get back to a position as soon as possible where we have a sustainable and manageable waiting list.

“We’ll do this by extending some of the activity we introduced during the pandemic, including extending our weekend and evening working, looking at making better use of our operating capacity, and expanding rapidly where we can.”

Considering the impact the growing service demand is having on staff, Bremner continued: “You might say this is the most important thing we need to get right as an organisation. We need to make sure our staff are fit and on the road to recovery themselves.

“At one point, we had about 400 of our workforce shielding. They’ve been coming back to work since April and health and safety is never far from our minds. We’ve been doing all the dedicated risk assessments and taking appropriate occupational health advice. Things like trying to redeploy staff into lower risk areas and adapting their way of working, such as changes to their start and finish times to help them get back into routine.”

When asked about the immediate ‘quick wins’ planned to address the most pressing issues, Bremner said: “There isn’t a quick fix. Transparently sharing data across the region will hopefully help to find solutions to challenges that lead to wider recovery.”

Providing a patient viewpoint, discussing what support and resources would help patients with arthritis and musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, was Jonathan Canty, Policy Officer at Versus Arthritis.

“We recognise that global health services face a whole range of different challenges when it comes to recovering services, including MSK and orthopaedic services. Towards the end of last year, we ran a survey to understand more about the experiences of people waiting for joint replacement surgery across the UK, which revealed worsening levels of mobility and independence, and a decline in physical and mental health.”

Considering what resources would be beneficial for patients waiting for treatment, Canty said: “The survey highlighted to us that better support is needed for patients on waiting lists and it gave us a strong sense that the priorities should be clear communication, self-management support, access to physical activity programmes, mental health support and signposting to financial support and advice.”

Posed with the idea of working collaboratively with other organisations across the country, Canty said: “Versus Arthritis has recently published a report calling on Integrated Care Systems and other local health bodies to take a number of actions to support people waiting for joint replacement surgery.”

Emma Challans, Executive Director of Culture and Improvement at Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT, and Founder of Proud2bOps, addressed the backlog and opportunities to restore services.

Exploring the hot topics of discussion within planning sessions, Challans said: “There has been quite a lot of discussion around resilience and what resilience means for the healthcare professional, for a team, and for patients. There’s also then the element of restoration, but with a very clear line of sight of what the future might look like. We’re thinking about collaborative working and what the future asks are around system shaping, planning, and delivering.

“Much has been socialised from a personal leadership perspective in terms of your own values and morals, the process of asking colleagues to keep going above and beyond. The title of this discussion is ‘Now the hard work begins’, but many colleagues will probably say ‘what have we been doing for the past 12-15 months?’ Is that not hard work?”

Discussing the need for increased activity, Challans considered the safety of staff, saying: “We’re having to recover services and get activity levels back up to a threshold similar to the previous year before COVID, but we’re learning how to do that in a safe, supported and transparent way. Some of the conversations we’re having, and particularly in Sherwood, are open and honest about being realistic in terms of what we can achieve and what we can’t.”

Questioned on what roles are essential within a team to help recover systems, Challans said: “I would certainly have key specialists in welfare and well-being at the centre of conversations around responding, planning, and delivery – and couple that with psychological support. Before COVID, would we have gone straight for welfare and well-being? Maybe, maybe not. These are some really key things to think about.”

Agreeing with the idea of changes to the way teams work, discussion-lead Dr Wilkes said: “It’s interesting how nature has a way of resetting things and to hear these points around welfare and support for patients from a holistic point of view.”

Discussing integrating services within the community was Mo Taylor, Director of Business Development and Communities at Northumberland Council.

Taylor said: “Local authorities take a significant role in emergency planning and responses, so when the health system at the very beginning of the pandemic needed to limit attendance and protect its systems, social care, community services, and home care had to continue with that community provision under immense pressure. We needed to support residents to make sure we could keep people out of the hospital system, which was protecting those that desperately needed medical support.”

Addressing the challenges within the county, Taylor said: “We developed some significant new relationships within our community. There is an enormous amount of support in the voluntary sector and communities that we hadn’t harnessed on this scale before. We have more than 300 community groups across the County that have energy and innovation – we captured these and pulled them together to mobilise that kind of support. We started to understand what social prescribing and support planning actually meant in practice.”

When asked about the role of local authorities in system recovery and capacity to support, Taylor said: “It’s about being more aware of what a local authority can do when it puts its mind to it and being a bit more aware of where the local authority sits in the system. It’s not just about emptying bins, maintaining parks, and managing social care, its so much more than that. It’s about harnessing what’s available in the communities and putting that to really good productive use.”

Chris Lyon, Head of Operations at Cross Counties and North Blaby Primary Care Networks, and Director of East Leicestershire & Rutland (ELR) GP Federation, provided the primary care perspective on managing demand.

“There are concerns about resilience with small and large practices. You would perhaps expect these concerns from small practices, but some of the larger ones have also struggled. We’ve seen a real increase in mental health contact, with some GPs reporting 70% of their daily workload is low level mental health support.”

Considering some of the positive things to come from changes to services, Lyon said: “The shift towards the technological solutions that we’ve implemented has been really rapid, and in most cases really very effective. Primary care now has to work out what ‘normal’ is. That could be a return to what normal was, but I think everyone can recognise that this is a golden opportunity for primary care to change what it is – I think it will be a mix of face-to-face and virtual appointments.

“We need to work on pathways that allow primary care to keep patients away from secondary care. For the future, I think local collaboration and working within the community and with voluntary sectors, is key to getting ourselves out of this and getting ourselves back on an even keel.”

Questioned on staff morale and job retention within primary care, Lyon said: “There isn’t a consistent picture across the region. Morale is patchy in some practices, others are struggling with staff leaving, whilst some seem to be doing ok. The issues are magnified in the city, but we’re looking at system recovery as a whole.”

During a panel discussion led by Dr Wilkes, all participants were asked to consider one thought or action that is really important to assisting in recovery.

Ken Bremner MBE, Chief Executive at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust:
“Let me turn it around and tell you the one question I’m asking every single member of our team at the moment: Why has it taken a pandemic for us to fundamentally change the way we work?”

Jonathan Canty, Policy Officer at Versus Arthritis:
“We recognise that it’s going to be a long road to tackling the backlog of surgeries, so please work with patient groups like us to support patients to ‘wait well’ over the coming months and years.”

Emma Challans, Executive Director of Culture and Improvement at Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT, and Founder of Proud2bOps:
“Changing the way that we performance manage systems in relation to the ask of delivery.”

Mo Taylor, Director of Business Development and Communities at Northumberland Council:
“We need to share what we now know. I think there are some blind spots for different organisations and we should share what we know now about residents, resident behaviours, patient behaviours, and workforce issues. We need to have a huge collective understanding of those pressures.”

Chris Lyon, Head of Operations at Cross Counties and North Blaby Primary Care Networks, and Director of East Leicestershire & Rutland (ELR) GP Federation:
“I think Primary Care needs to work through networks, federations, and other similar bodies to play an active role in the health economy as a whole. The advent of ICS’s will help that. Primary care needs to stop seeing itself as just a GP practice – it’s much more than that.”

Visit the Connect Health website to replay the webinar.

Healthcare, News

New entrance opens at Northampton General Hospital

Northampton General Hospital is delighted to announce its new hospital entrance has opened today, 7th July, to provide staff, patients and visitors with a more welcoming and contemporary reception area.

The entrance will provide a modern new look as well as first-class facilities for staff, patients and visitors, with the arrival of familiar high-street brands providing healthy, and popular food options as well as a grab-and-go dining and a convenient shopping offer.

The new space, located at the South Entrance of the site, will be complemented by the introduction of a staffed reception desk and popular high-street brands including Costa Coffee, Subway®, Stock Shop and an M&S Food store. The retail outlets will have a phased opening with Costa Coffee and Subway opening on the 7th July and M&S Food and Stock Shop opening on the 13th July.

Stuart Finn, Director of Estates and Facilities at Northampton General Hospital said: “We are so excited to be opening our new entrance to our patients, visitors and staff today. This development has been in the works for a number of years and will provide a new welcoming space for people coming to NGH from 7th July.

“While we hope to welcome our local community to these new shops soon, we would ask that only those needing to attend the hospital use these facilities until our hospital COVID restrictions change.”

This is the first of the new developments to open at Northampton General with a new Paediatric Emergency Department and new Critical Care Unit due to open later this year.

Jonathan Houlston, Chief Operation Officer at Noviniti said: “We are delighted that the New Main Entrance has now reached completion on schedule following a challenging construction period. The new main entrance will greatly enhance the image and facilities available at the hospital to the patients, staff and visitors.”

Ben Foreman, Managing Director at Catfoss said: “Having delivered the offsite manufactured modular superstructure for this scheme as part of the delivery team, it’s great to see this impressive new front entrance and retail development open. Staff, patients and visitors will benefit immensely from this facility and the additional projects Catfoss are delivering for Northampton General Hospital”.

Andy Jones, Managing Director of Healthcare Retail at Compass Group UK & Ireland said: ‘’We are delighted to be working in partnership with Northampton General Hospital to deliver a great new space and retail offer for the Trust, it’s visitors, patients and staff. We are bringing high street retail, alongside food and beverage offers to provide a great service, quality and choice.”

Healthcare, News, Research

Robert Hewitt: Are the business practices of commercial biospecimen brokers conducive to reliable and ethical biospecimen procurement?

Written by Robert Hewitt, Founder, Biosample Hub

Just like any other business, the sourcing of biospecimens for medical research involves profit. Biospecimens are often obtained through a broker, an intermediary between a hospital biobank (where the sample was originally collected and preserved) and a client in industry. As brokers charge a fee for this service, inevitably, brokers are concerned about there being unconditional communication between a researcher and a hospital biobank – brokers do not want to be cut out of the process and lose their fee. However, the concealment of sample sources means the end-user may lack biospecimen provenance information.

This important provenance information includes: (a) information about the donor and their medical history, (b) sample processing history; (c) the geographic origin of the sample which provides information about environment and ethnicity, and (d) previous custodians, which may include one or more brokers.

To be sure of this information, it is best for the scientist to be in contact with the source biobank. If additional information is required subsequently, like for example the response to treatment or survival time, then it will be necessary to recontact the source biobank. All of this is made much more difficult if a broker refuses to reveal the source of the samples.

Knowing the geographic origin of a sample is essential because this may provide information about environmental, socio-economic and genetic factors that will help make sense of research findings. This is particularly important because the international sourcing of samples for industry is highly prevalent. In a recent survey by Medicines Discovery Catapult found that diagnostics SMEs in the UK obtained 75% of their samples from other countries. Part of the reason is that in the UK and other countries in Western Europe, there is a high level of concern about the ethics of trade in human tissue, so brokers find it much easier to source samples in other parts of the world, like eastern Europe, Asia and the USA. It is important to note that some countries like China, India and Russia have legal restrictions on the export of samples, so another reason to be sure of geographic origin is to avoid the use of illegally sourced samples.

The international sourcing of clinical samples may involve a number of commercial entities operating in different countries, which adds additional degrees of separation between the source and the end-user. It is important for end-users to be aware of this and the possible effect on the reliability of information provided about patient consent and sample provenance.

What can be done to make sure that when industry obtains samples, they always come with reliable provenance information?

One option is for brokers to allow direct communication between the hospital source of samples and the end-user, but to require both parties to sign a contractual agreement to the effect that they will not circumvent the broker. Such contracts are indeed being used effectively by several commercial brokers.

Another possibility is for companies to build their own networks of biobanks to supply them with the samples they require. This may be feasible in the long term, but in the short term it is often very difficult to find suitable hospital biobanks with the necessary samples in stock. There are publicly available biobank directories that companies can consult, but these are generally designed with academic researchers in mind and may not indicate whether the biobanks are willing or indeed motivated to work with industry. So for start-up companies and those with urgent sample needs, there is generally little alternative but to obtain samples through brokers.

Recently established not-for-profit company Biosample Hub provides a possible solution: an online platform dedicated to partnering industry with academic biobanks. The platform includes directories of biobanks, companies and requests as well as networking features to allow members to communicate. So far this has been well received by academic biobanks in western Europe, providing industry with a route to previously inaccessible sources of clinical samples.

In the years ahead, regulatory requirements for the approval of drugs and diagnostics will enforce the need for reliable sample provenance information, and together with the introduction of new legal and regulatory requirements, there are promising technological developments that will help ensure reliable sample provenance information.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Hewitt, MB BS, PhD, is the founder of Biosample Hub, a new platform that connects Biotech companies looking for samples, with Biobanks that have ethically sourced samples available.

 

Appointments, Healthcare, News

Cardiff nurse takes on Hospital Director role

Specialist healthcare provider, Ludlow Street Healthcare, has appointed a new Hospital Director at its Pinetree Court Hospital.

Julie Nolloth qualified as a nurse in 1989 working in a range of nursing roles in both the NHS and independent sector. Latterly she has taken on a number of operational management positions in Ludlow Street Healthcare’s hospitals and community homes, including a spell at Pinetree Hospital where she managed two of the units.

Ludlow Street Healthcare specialises in providing care for adults over the age of 18 with complex mental health problems, autism, learning disabilities, and neuropsychiatric conditions including dementia and acquired brain injuries.

Its Pinetree Court Hospital service is a 29-bed facility, offering person-centred care for men and women over the age of 18, with learning disabilities, behaviours that challenge, and/or mental illness.

As Hospital Director, Julie will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the facility and overseeing the team of over 100 staff and 29 service users.

Julie said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for me. I am delighted to be returning to Pinetree to team up with Clinical Lead, Claire Wilson, as well as working alongside many other long-term colleagues and friends.

“During my time working in healthcare I have built up a wealth of experience which I believe will prepare me well for the challenge of this new role and I am looking forward to getting started.”

Jane Watkins, Founder and Deputy Chair of Ludlow Street Healthcare, said: “We have watched Julie go from strength-to-strength and this promotion is testament to the hard work and dedication that she has consistently shown.

“Julie’s experience within the NHS and private healthcare means that she is well placed to lead our team at Pinetree Court Hospital and I am very much looking forward to watching her thrive within her new role.”

Opened in 2008 and located close to Cardiff city centre, Pinetree Court Hospital delivers individually-tailored support based around models of care including Positive Behaviour Support, Active Support and Building Better Lives.

Established in 2005 by healthcare specialists, Ludlow Street Healthcare provides transition-focused healthcare and bespoke step-down services, including specialist assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, and education, throughout Wales and the South West of England. The organisation has developed a reputation for its person-centred approach, community-focused settings and specialist staff.

Since its inception, Ludlow Street Healthcare has supported and cared for over 800 people. For over a decade, it has worked in partnership with the NHS, developing services and investing in the necessary health infrastructure and staff training, to support patients on their journey to recovery and a more independent and fulfilling life, through step-down to community living – improving social integration and inclusion.

Healthcare, Mental Health, News

Heatherwood College Launches New Courses Following Success of its Recovery College

Following the successful launch of their Recovery College in 2020, the Heatherwood Court team has developed a new prospectus which features a number of exciting new courses for service users

Heatherwood Court is a low security hospital offering treatment and rehabilitation for men and women on a forensic mental health pathway. Located near Cardiff, the hospital is owned and managed by specialist healthcare provider, Ludlow Street Healthcare.

The Recovery College offers service users a broad range of courses encouraging them to develop new skills to aid them in their recovery and to help with their return to the community. The college is co-managed by service users themselves giving them an active role to play in its production and delivery, putting them at the heart of its success.

As the Recovery College has become more well-established, the prospectus and course offering has evolved to reflect the requirements of service users.

Jenna Bayliss, Skills Tutor said: “Courses like English and Maths have been really popular since the start because of their links to employability. We have had service users come to us unable to read or write and they leave able to do both. As well as being hugely rewarding for us as educators, this is invaluable to service users as they start to think about entering the job market.

“Of course, not everyone wants to focus on the educational side of things and the beauty of the Recovery College is that it is entirely catered to the individual, tapping into what people do want to know and what they think will be beneficial to their own future.

“Despite the restrictions of lockdown we were really pleased that almost half of service users attended the accredited education courses over the last 12 months.”

Service user Suz Yates was one of the original members of the Recovery College and now helps to run it. Suz believes that the key to the College’s success is the fact that it breaks down the boundaries between service users and staff, removing the ‘us and them’ culture and improves the self-esteem and confidence of the service users.

Suz said: “When they are hospitalised, service users often feel that they are de-skilled, de-personalised, separated from their usual support networks and find they can’t use their usual coping strategies.  On top of that, policies and procedures in a standard hospital environment create an ‘us and them’ culture. The Recovery College helps dismantle these barriers.

“When I arrived at Heatherwood and discovered that a Recovery College was being set-up I was eager to play a role in its development as I was part of a Recovery College in my local community previously. It made a huge difference to my life; from personal knowledge I saw how it helped me gain self-confidence and increase my self-management skills.

“Without the divide between ‘staff’ and ‘patient’ I feel accepted and recognised as having intrinsic value to offer; an ‘expert by experience’.”

Royston Scott, Recovery College Lead, said: “Now that the Recovery College is well established, we have a clearer idea of what service users find beneficial and what they want to see more of. We deliberately offer taster sessions that help people decide what will help them on their own journeys and this helps shape the prospectus too.

“We are so proud of the Recovery College team and the work they have undertaken to make the College such a success, they do a phenomenal job.”

Heatherwood Court is owned and run by healthcare specialists, Ludlow Street Healthcare. Established in 2005, Ludlow Street Healthcare has supported and cared for over 800 people. More information about Heatherwood Court and Ludlow Street Healthcare is available on their website www.heatherwoodcourt.co.uk

Healthcare, Healthcare Tech

Why Connecting the NHS Is More Important Than Ever—And How Technology Can Help

Written by Grainne Elliott, CMO, Thrive

Mental and physical fatigue, lack of support, tricky staff logistics and shift patterns, not to mention long hours—these are just some of the challenges that NHS employees face. After a really rough year (and we’re not completely in the clear just yet), connecting NHS employees is more important than ever.

1948 was the birth year of the NHS, a historic development that brought healthcare to all in the UK. Back then—a near half-century before the digital age—all things were done with paper. Today, the NHS is in the early stages of digital transformation.

These plans and efforts to digitise are much needed in a system that, while it has seen significant progress, has much more progress still to make when it comes to connecting information and people.

For the patient, that lack of connection and technological innovation within the NHS can sometimes be a frustrating experience full of administrative hurdles, delays between appointments, and long waiting lists for tests and procedures.

For staff, the inability to connect is but one frustration of many, but it holds the key to groundbreaking changes in all the other areas of frustration. Because society’s ability to connect has come so far since the NHS’s early days, and because connection is such a crucial aspect of patient care and provider well-being, technology that connects people—from administration to GPs to nurses—is an urgent part of advancing the NHS’s technology policy and implementation.

Why Connection Matters Right Now in the NHS

Why should it matter that the NHS is connected? Because staff connection is linked to everything from patient outcomes to productivity and profits.

As one NHS director put it, “If people feel happier at work then this is linked to productivity. They will pay more attention to their tasks in their jobs, which trickles down into patient outcomes: patients are happier, they go home earlier and they are happier with the care they are given.”

Many measures of staff satisfaction have improved. The most recent NHS Staff Survey conducted late in the pandemic found that staff in general are proud to work for the NHS. On the other hand, two important metrics had declined. Results showed that:

  • Team working had declined.
  • Well-being scores were lower for those who worked on a COVID-19 ward or area.
  • Well-being scores were also much lower for those who have been shielding.

The decline in these three areas specifically show a need for more robust opportunities to connect, and in this time of all things digital, a digital- and mobile-first approach could be the answer those in the NHS need to increase those key touchpoints.

Creating Connections with technology

One way to facilitate much-needed connections via technology is through the use of employee communications technology. In thinking about the requirements an app or other new technology must fill, here are a few guidelines:

  • New technology must be inclusive
  • Stakeholders from a variety of areas and levels need to be included in selecting and rolling out new technology intended for engagement and connection—not just CEOs and members of the executive group.

When selecting an employee communications technology platform, it’s also a good idea to account for diversity and health inequalities. Make sure no one is forgotten—that defeats the point of making sure people in every role feel valued.

Set everyone up for success with proper training.

It’s critical that everyone receives in-depth training in how to leverage your new technology tools. Digital literacy doesn’t come naturally, so support all staff in the effort by training, and even appointing training leaders to educate groups on how to use it.

Only when people feel fluent will they recognise the efficiency and time-saving the new technology affords them.

  • Help people find each other and share with each other.
  • Connection can’t happen if people don’t know how to get in touch. Technology can bring people together in both logistical and social ways. For example, people directories and shared rotas make managing or swapping shifts easier. Likewise for making teamwork (one of the pain points made clear in this year’s survey) more viable.
  • Consider incorporating features such as social walls for posting photos and fun messages, or for sharing everything from canteen menus to big departmental accomplishments.
    Think holistically about support.
    What needs do staff members at all levels have with regards to support? Certainly they need to hear from upper management, and can feel supported in their roles when it’s easy to find resources (such as company policies or training modules) they need.

But other types of support, particularly around physical, mental, and emotional well-being, have grown ever more important as we wade through the COVID-19 crisis. Technology can help bridge the gap left by not being able to be within close proximity to colleagues, and can provide much-needed support via planning of well-being events and offering mental health resources.

With the right technology in pace, NHS staff members at all levels can forge new connections, work more efficiently with one another, and feel more supported.

 

Healthcare, News

Una Health appointed as UK and Ireland distributor for Roche urinalysis solutions

Roche Diagnostics Limited has appointed Una Health Ltd as its distribution partner for Roche Combur-Test® and Urisys® 1100 product range in the UK and Ireland.

The appointment, which comes into effect today, 14 June 2021, means Una Health Ltd is now the sole distributor of Roche Combur-Test® strips to all healthcare practitioners in the UK and Ireland.

Una Health specialises in Pathology and Point of Care diagnostics, supplying specialist, cutting-edge and appropriate healthcare solutions.

Laura Cartwright, Business Development Director at Una Health Ltd said: “We pride ourselves on offering our supplier partners exceptional experience, expertise and support.

“Our aim is not only to provide innovative, cost-effective pathology and point-of-care diagnostics to the UK healthcare sector, but also to explore new ways in which they can be used to improve efficiency and patient outcomes.”

Roche Diagnostics has 50 years of experience in urinalysis, starting with the launch of the first Combur-Test® strip in 1964. Over the years, it has continuously improved strip technology for clinical and general practice.

Urine is a key health barometer for many diseases including urinary tract infections, kidney disease and diabetes. Urinalysis can reveal serious diseases that show no symptoms in their early stages but are treatable.

Urine test strips are a crucial diagnostic tool which are easy to use and provide quick, reliable information on pathological changes in the urine. Their diagnostic significance lies primarily in first-line diagnosis, screening during routine or preventative examinations and treatment monitoring.

The new contract follows a particularly busy 12month period for Una Health Ltd, as the UK distribution partner for Fortress Diagnostics, working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Imperial College London, Ipsos MORI and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to supply home testing kits for the Real Time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) studies and the UK Biobank.

Una Health also supplies the market leading Hepatitis E (HEV) ELISA from Fortress Diagnostics across the UK, which includes work with Public Health England reference laboratories.

Laura Cartwright added: “We want to revolutionise the patient pathway and improve the overall patient journey. Our real skill is combining leading technology with a different way of thinking, in order to provide rapid, reliable results that make more efficient use of already-stretched resources.”

Health, Healthcare, News

FDA registration opens US market to British insomnia device

An innovative, UK-designed sleep therapy solution has taken a major step towards capturing a share of the global $80bn sleep aid market after securing US regulatory registration. SleepCogni, a data-supported device for people suffering from insomnia, has now been registered for medical use by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Following a successful clinical trial at Sheffield Hallam University, preliminary analysis has shown that SleepCogni reduces insomnia – as measured by Insomnia Severity Index –  in just seven days.* FDA registration opens up immediate access to an estimated 70m sleep sufferers living in the US.

Co-founded by Sheffield-based entrepreneur Richard Mills, who has personally suffered from sleeping disorders, and Dutch chronobiologist and sleep expert, Dr Maan van de Werken, SleepCogni is a hand-held sleeping aid which enables users to self-manage their insomnia. The device, which collects data to provide informed insights for clinical intervention, has secured 11 patents including ones for its wind down technology, Active-Biofeedback, which uses haptic feedback to help insomnia sufferers break cognitive cycles preventing sleep.

Since it was founded in 2015, SleepCogni has raised almost £1.8m to support technology development, including investment from venture capitalists Mercia and other private sources, and has secured three research and development grants through the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

The company is now about to begin beta testing its device at four sites, two in the UK and two in the US, one of which is a world-leading healthcare system. Upon successful testing, SleepCogni is set to be rolled out to 130 clinics of one of the largest sleep care management groups in the US.

The company’s chairman is Richard di Benedetto, President of Aetna International health insurance, and a leading figure in the global healthcare sector. Its medical advisers include Dr Donn Posner, the US-based Founder and President of Sleepwell Consultants.

Richard Mills, SleepCogni’s co-founder and CEO said: “FDA registration is a major development for the company, giving us access into the American market where, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three people suffer with insomnia at some point in their lives. This coincides with an agreement to roll out our device in 130 US sleep clinics following the successful completion of its final testing.”

Leading the SleepCogni clinical trials were Dr Antonia Ypsilanti, Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Dr Lambros Lazuras, Associate Professor in Social Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University. Dr Ypsilanti said: “The SleepCogni trials produced extraordinary results, reducing clinical insomnia to subthreshold insomnia in just seven days for those using the device. It’s ground-breaking to see such a drastic improvement on insomnia severity, and therefore unsurprising that the participants found the device more effective than other sleep improvement approaches they’d used in the past.”

Richard di Benedetto, SleepCogni’s chairman, said: “SleepCogni is an innovative, self-managing solution for insomnia sufferers with huge global market potential. The successful trials in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University, FDA registration and our partnership with one of the biggest sleep care management providers in the US further underlines its strong commercial prospects going forward.”

For more information visit: www.sleepcogni.com

*based on analysis with 79% of the trial completed.