Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.
👇 News
👨💻 eConsultHealth has been awarded a contract to deliver a digital consultation tool for GP practices within NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB). The contract supports the ICB’s digital strategy to 2032 of using technology to improve patient care. The 12-month contract starts from October 2025 and is valued up to £382,680.
👀 An AI tool capable of predicting patients who are at risk of developing retinopathy has been developed by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. The HCQuery algorithm was able to identify 100% of patients with the condition up to 2.74 years earlier than doctors.
🍃 ExR Education, which delivers medical Virtual Reality simulations for free to all NHS medical professionals. has achieved B Corp status. Following an extensive B Impact assessment, the company is able to support the NHS on its decarbonisation journey.
⚖️ NHS England has revealed plans to re-procure its national digital weight management programme. The £42 million programme will support adults living with obesity across three service levels focused on digital support, with additional human coaching at the second and third tier.
🏥 Every NHS stroke centre in England has been equipped with life-saving AI software that can inform doctors if emergency surgery is needed, and so triple the rate of recovery. The AI scanning systems analyses brain CT scans of stroke patients and takes minutes to identify the type and severity of stroke, plus the most appropriate treatment.
❓Did you know?
A peer-reviewed observational study, published in The Lancet on 10 September 2025, has found that although chronic disease deaths are declining globally, progress is slowing.
The study, ‘Benchmarking progress in non-communicable diseases: a global analysis of cause-specific mortality from 2001 to 2019’ was led by researchers at Imperial College London.
Over the last decade, deaths from chronic diseases were found to have fallen in nearly 80% of countries in line with global and national political pledges to improve prevention and treatment.
However, the researchers uncovered a slowdown in almost two thirds of countries in the rate of decline for mortality.
Nearly all high-income countries in Europe, north America, Australasia and the Pacific experienced this decline over the period 2010-2019 when compared to the previous decade. The US was identified as being the most significantly affected – with the smallest decrease in risk over the same time period.
📖 What we’re reading
A report from the BMJ Future Health Commission a joint initiative between global healthcare knowledge provider BMJ Group and independent assurance and risk management provider DNV, has revealed how healthcare professionals feel about digital health technologies.
Drawing on a survey of more than 300 healthcare professionals in northern Europe – the report found that technology is not yet delivering on its promise of improved productivity, efficiency and reduced workloads.
Less than half of those surveyed said that digital tools have reduced the admin work (47%), while 38% said they have seen a reduction in clinical workload.
The research found that clunky EPR systems, limited access to training and interoperability barriers causes more frustration for staff.
Stephen McAdam, segment director, Digital Health, DNV said: “These insights show that too few healthcare professionals think these technologies help them deliver more care with fewer resources.”
🚨Upcoming events
2 October 2025, London – Celebrating the future of health
