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
📷 West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced that it has treated 3,000 patients via its teledermatology service. Launched in 2022, the service uses digital images to assess and diagnose lesions for skin cancer, improving diagnostics and triaging by bypassing the wait for a consultant appointment. The trust plans to expand the service to Hemel Hempstead Hospital.
🤝 Healthcare platform provider Archangel has partnered with Internet of Things (IoT) company Rainbow Sensors to support people living in various care settings. Rainbow Sensors’ technologies will be integrated into Archangel’s Ambient Assisted Living platform to provide sensor-based monitoring of individual care, property conditions and environmental factors. The technology can be applied across the entire care system, from homecare and grouped living to residential care.
📝 NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is asking suppliers to express interest in providing a continuing healthcare and nursing healthcare (CHC) platform. The system will need to handle assessments, referrals, case management, reporting and let patients track their progress. The CHC must also link with existing NHS systems like Access Rio, TPP SystmOne Community, Liquid Logic and the National Spine. The ICB is also interested in using AI and ambient technology.
🧠 Mersey Care has been awarded a contract to provide Liaison and Diversion and Reconnect services in Merseyside for the next five years, providing mental health services for those who enter the criminal justice system. The trust’s Liaison and Diversion and Reconnect team will continue to offer a host of services, including identification, screening, assessment and referrals for people with mental health, learning disability, substance misuse or other vulnerabilities once they become part of the criminal justice pathway.
💰 SiSU Health has secured £1.25 million to grow its team and expand the reach of its digital health services. The company supports the early detection of health risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity with the aim of encouraging healthier lifestyle changes. It secured the investment from the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura, which comprises Bruntwood SciTech, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington.
❓Did you know?
HealthTech was the leading sector for venture capital in Europe for the fourth quarter in a row, bringing in $4.3bn (£3.2bn) in Q1 2025 – up 65% compared to the same time last year, according to new data from Dealroom. Health and AI now make up a quarter of all VC investment in Europe, with $3.4bn (£2.5bn) going to AI alone.
The UK, Germany, France and Spain each raised over $1bn (£750m) last quarter, while cross-border investment within Europe reached 28%, its highest level since 2011. The rise shows growing support for local startups and stronger regional cooperation, Dealroom said.
📖 What we’re reading
‘Beyond the waiting room: reimagining primary care for the next decade‘ is a new collection of essays from clinical leaders across England, published by NHS Confederation on 17 April 2025. Written by experienced GPs and system leaders, the essays consider how primary care might develop into a more proactive, digitally supported and community-focused model by 2035.
Among the contributors is Arvind Madan, GP partner at the Hurley Group, who suggests that AI and digital triage should form the main route into NHS services, helping patients get to the right care more quickly while easing pressure on clinicians.
Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington Innovation Network, makes a similar case for using remote monitoring and predictive tools to support people in managing long-term conditions from home, which he says would reduce demand on face-to-face services while improving early intervention for at-risk patients.
🚨 Upcoming events
2 May, London – Future of Women’s Health Innovation, Research + AI
