- DSIT Secretary, Peter Kyle MP, stated that the Government wants to strengthen ties with their European neighbours and explore areas where they can boost shared prosperity and security through mutually beneficial agreements.
- This includes ensuring that UK scientists, innovators, businesses, and institutions can collaborate with partners across Europe and beyond.
- The Government’s clear position is for FP10 to be based on openness and excellence, and to ensure the continuation of proven instruments within Horizon Europe.
Inadequate diagnostics increase chances of another pandemic
- FIND, the global non-profit focused on building diagnostic infrastructure, has stated that the world is short of diagnostic tests needed to respond to serious outbreaks of infectious disease.
- COVID was the only illness which had an adequate amount of tests, according to FIND experts.
- For the twenty other viruses and bacteria listed by the WHO as priority pathogens, preparedness was declared severely lacking.
New research network unites Oxford University’s global fight against antimicrobial resistance
- A new University-wide network on antimicrobial resistance aims to generate novel research and collaborations to tackle one of the most urgent global health threats.
- There are over 200 researchers working to tackle AMR across Oxford. Their work spans new drug discovery and antibiotic stewardship, to development of diagnostic tools and AMR surveillance and epidemiology.
- Scientists at the University of Oxford are developing rapid diagnostic tests that will enable health professionals to administer the right drug at the right time and only when needed.
The ‘huge disadvantage’ women behind femtech phenomenon face
- Gender bias in funding is a huge issue, said Mo Carrier, cofounder of MyBliss. Carrier said being the female founder of a femtech company put her “at a huge disadvantage”.
Mayors create healthtech bridge that spans the Atlantic
- West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has signed a co-operation partnership agreement with Nashville, Tennessee, which will hopefully boost West Yorkshire’s health technology sector.
- The creation of a ‘Healthtech Bridge’, connecting both sides of the Atlantic, will deepen cooperation on trade, investment and knowledge sharing as well as creating a partnership between the two regions’ businesses, universities, chambers of commerce and regional government authorities.
- Brabin and Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell are hopeful it will help encourage the flow of trade, investment and knowledge sharing between the two regions.
Three ICSs responsible for a quarter of very long diagnostic waits (paywall)
- Just three integrated care systems were responsible for nearly one in four 13-week waits for key diagnostic tests in recent months, HSJ analysis of official data has found.
Clinical space ‘increased by 34 hospitals’ in under a decade (paywall)
- NHS England has increased clinical space by the equivalent of 34 general acute hospitals in less than a decade, it has revealed.
The Monthly Diagnostics statistics for August 2024 can be found here.
- The total number of patients waiting six weeks or more from referral for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests at the end of August 2024 was 373,100. This was 23.9% of the total number of patients waiting at the end of the month.
- Nationally, the operational standard of less than 1% of patients waiting six weeks or more was not met this month.
- Compared with August 2023 the total number of patients waiting six weeks or more decreased by 56,900 while the proportion of patients waiting six weeks or more decreased by 3.6 percentage points.
- In the last 12 months, the proportion of patients waiting six weeks or more at the end of a month has varied between 20.8% (February 2024) and 26.8% (December 2023).
- The estimated average time that a patient had been waiting for a diagnostic test was 3.1 weeks at the end of August 2024.
- There were 1,559,300 patients waiting for a key diagnostic test at the end of August 2024. This is a decrease of 4,800 from August 2023.
- A total of 2,339,100 diagnostic tests were undertaken in August 2024. This is an increase of 105,400 from August 2023.
