Accelerating NHS net zero goals through medicine carbon footprinting

By Samantha Semmeling

With medicines accounting for a quarter of the NHS carbon footprint, Nazneen Rahman, Founder of YewMaker and co-creator of MCF Classifier, explains how AI-driven medicine carbon emissions data can support practical, scalable strategies that align clinical excellence and environmental stewardship.

The climate crisis is resulting in acute and chronic health challenges, which are putting pressure on global health systems. In turn, the healthcare sector is estimated to account for 5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This places a unique responsibility on the sector to both manage these impacts and reduce its contribution to climate change.

More than 20 countries have committed to delivering net zero health systems. In the UK, the Health and Care Act 2022 embedded the commitment for the NHS to become net zero by 2045 into legislation, making it the first health system worldwide to do so.

Progress on sustainable medicines

Medicines make a sizeable contribution to the NHS’ carbon footprint (an estimated 25 per cent), so a comprehensive strategy to reduce medicines-related emissions is necessary for the NHS to reach its net zero goals.

The NHS is already making headway. Green plan guidance now recommends that systems and trusts use lower carbon inhalers and anaesthetics, which has already seen successful uptake.

However, of the 25 per cent attributed to medicines, inhalers and anaesthetics only account for 5 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent comes from the manufacture and supply of the billions of medicines prescribed across the NHS every year.

Progress on reducing these emissions has been hindered by a lack of accessible product-level emissions data. Manufacturer data is rarely made available and is not standardised, making it difficult to use as a baseline for carbon reduction strategies.

MCF Classifier – Medicine emissions data at scale

YewMaker creates science-based solutions to help make healthcare more sustainable. Chief Executive Officer, Nazneen Rahman and Chief Technology Officer, Haroon Taylor saw an opportunity to harness industry standards in green chemistry, using AI and data science to develop a standardised methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of individual medicines. The resulting technology suite, MCF Classifier (MCF = Medicine Carbon Footprint), provides data and tools that enable the manufacture, supply, emissions, procurement, and prescription of medicines to be carbon-informed.

“We developed MCF Classifier to make medicine emissions visible, consistent, and usable,” says Nazneen. “Without that foundation, it’s difficult for anyone – whether in procurement, policy or practice – to take meaningful action.”

The methodology behind MCF Classifier has been peer-reviewed and published, bringing transparency and credibility to an area where data has been limited and inconsistent. Research using MCF Classifier has shown wide variation in medicine carbon footprints across all therapeutic areas, highlighting significant opportunities for carbon-informed decisions in procurement, supply chain planning, and prescribing.

YewMaker is now building MCF Classifier tools and products to drive awareness and action. MCF Formulary, supported by NHS funding, provides standardised per-dose carbon ratings for thousands of medicines through a free, user-friendly web portal. It allows healthcare practitioners to explore the relative carbon impact of medicines and integrate sustainability into medicine optimisation strategies.

For manufacturers and suppliers, YewMaker uses MCF Classifier to deliver a range of data products and services, including product carbon footprint reports, large-scale emissions analyses, portfolio-wide carbon assessments, and therapy emission comparisons. These support organisations to understand and mitigate the carbon impact of their medicines and to meet reporting requirements.

Advancing NHS net zero goals

The NHS has committed to reach net zero by 2045 for emissions influenced through the procurement of goods and services, including medicines. To help suppliers align with this goal, the NHS has developed a roadmap outlining key milestones. By 2027, all suppliers are required to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan, and by 2028, they must provide carbon footprint data for individual products.

Reducing supply chain carbon emissions will be essential. However, delivering on these targets will require practical and proportionate approaches. Nazneen highlights the importance of ensuring that new expectations, such as product-level carbon reporting, are introduced in ways that support, rather than disrupt, medicines supply. Tools like MCF Classifier can help by providing suppliers with accessible, consistent data that supports engagement without creating unnecessary complexity or burden.

Nazneen emphasises that carbon data should not be seen as a compliance exercise, but as a resource to support informed, balanced decisions. As understanding of product-level emissions improves, suppliers will be better placed to identify areas for reduction while maintaining stability and quality across the supply chain.

Improving the sustainability of the medicines supply chain will require coordinated efforts among multiple stakeholders. Collaboration at the organisational, sectoral, national and global levels will be essential in creating a supply chain that is not only resilient and cost-effective but also environmentally responsible.

By embedding carbon considerations into decision-making, the NHS can continue to lead in aligning clinical excellence with environmental sustainability and take meaningful steps towards delivering a net zero health system.

Further information

Dr Nazneen Rahman is CEO and Founder at YewMaker, a purpose-driven business building science-based sustainable healthcare solutions, and the Executive Director of the Sustainable Medicines Partnership action collaborative.

If you are interested in this topic or PPP’s pharmacy and medicines work more broadly, please contact Samantha Semmeling, Policy and Programmes Manager, Public Policy Projects (samantha.semmeling@publicpolicyprojects.com).

Benefits of single-handed care highlighted at new qualification launch

By Integrated Care Journal

Level 2 Proportionate Single-Handed Care qualification formalises single-handed care principles into Ofqual regulated training for the first time. The qualification counters the misconception that it is unlawful to provide moving and handling care activities with less than two handlers.

Leading figures in the social care sector, including representatives from Care England, Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS, came together at the House of Lords on Wednesday 2 April for the launch of the Level 2 Proportionate Single-Handed Care Qualification, developed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and A1 Risk Solutions Ltd.

The event was hosted by RoSPA Vice President Baroness Watkins of Tavistock, who reflected on how her own background in nursing has demonstrated both the importance of greater recognition of care workers’ skills, and the need for improved pathways to developing them.

Watkins said: “Working as a nurse myself gave me firsthand experience of how care workers are the backbone of our health and social care system, delivering care, kindness and support to hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis. Despite the increasing demand for social care, with requests for support from new clients reaching over two million in 2023-24, the vital contributions of care workers often go unrecognised.

“The qualification not only benefits individual care workers by enhancing their skills and job satisfaction but also promotes privacy, independence, and flexibility for service users. It ensures that care is delivered effectively, safely, and with dignity, without compromising the health and wellbeing of either party.

“By investing in our care workers, we are investing in the future of our health and social care system.”

In her keynote address, RoSPA Chief Executive Rebecca Hickman explained how the new qualification builds on the charity’s commitment to ensuring the highest health and safety standards across the whole of society.

Rebecca Hickman said: “The Level 2 Proportionate Single-Handed Care Qualification is a new addition to RoSPA’s suite of highly respected training qualifications for the social care sector, such as our Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate and our Level 3 Award for Safer People Handling Trainers.

“Developed in collaboration with key partners and supported by sector leaders, this qualification is designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of professionals, empowering them to deliver safer and more effective care.

“This qualification is based on the latest evidence and best practice. By setting high standards, recognising excellence, and delivering comprehensive training, RoSPA continues to lead the agenda in making society safer for everyone.”

The Level 2 Proportionate Single-Handed Care qualification is the first time the principles of single-handed care has been formalised into an Ofqual regulated training programme.

Proportionate/single-handed care encourages a more personalised approach to supporting a person’s moving and handling requirements. This ensures the person receives the optimum amount of care and support in the correct environment. By enabling individuals to do as much for themselves as possible, proportionate/single-handed care reduces the likelihood of them becoming deconditioned and being readmitted to hospital or admitted to long-term care. This also has the benefit of freeing up capacity across the wider health and social care system.

Alongside training staff in areas such as risk assessment and the practical delivery of safe moving and handling, the qualification counters the misconception that it is unlawful to provide moving and handling care activities with less than two handlers. Care should not be over prescribed and should be proportionate to the needs of each person to ensure that it does not foster dependency.

Find out more about the Level 2 Proportionate Single-Handed Care qualification.

Acute Care, Community Care, Featured, News, Secondary Care April 10, 2025

Embedding social prescribing in secondary care: A toolkit from Barts Health

By Gabriel Blaazer

Barts Health NHS Trust and its partner organisation, Transformation Partners in Health and Care, have released a toolkit detailing their pioneering work embedding social prescribing in secondary care and specialist acute pathways. The toolkit aims to help providers address unmet social needs, improve patient outcomes and reduce demand on acute services, shaping a holistic, prevention-focused model for the future NHS.

Social prescribing attempts to address the social determinants of health. These are the non-medical factors influencing 84 per cent of a person’s total health, with clinical care impacting the remainder. Social determinants of heath include income security and employment, education, housing and food insecurity, or social isolation.

Introduced in England in 2018, it typically involves signposting or referrals to appropriate services, but can also include emotional and mental health support for people experiencing social isolation or low-level mental health issues. Social prescribing is a holistic, person-centred and preventative approach and as such, is a key enabler of the government’s efforts to shift more care into the community and bolster prevention initiatives.

Emerging evidence suggests that social prescribing is an effective, yet low-cost, preventative intervention. However, its implementation has been more frequent in primary and community care, compared to secondary care. In 2023, Barts Health NHS Trust (Barts Health), one of Europe’s largest acute healthcare providers, started implementing social prescribing across multiple pathways, using different integration models to support a whole system approach to prevention and personalised care.

These services, delivered by social prescribers in collaboration with clinical and wider multi-disciplinary teams, support residents with their social needs while aiming to reduce demand on high-pressure services, including cardiovascular (CVD), renal, emergency care, and children and young people’s (CYP) services.

Encouraged by positive outcome data, the Trust and its partner organisation, Transformation Partners in Health and Care (TPHC), have developed a toolkit to help secondary care services embed social prescribing, public health and other community-led prevention initiatives within their specialties and pathways. The toolkit serves as a practical guide and checklist for secondary care providers looking to implement social prescribing and explore integrated, whole-system approaches to prevention.

Addressing unmet needs

While NHS England has established a standard model for embedding social prescribing, this has primarily focused on integration within primary care. In 2023, Barts Hospital’s Endovascular Team, led by Vascular Surgeon Dr Tara Mastracci, identified a high prevalence of unmet social need among patients in the hospital’s cardiovascular pathway – a well-evidenced correlation. Given that CVD disproportionately affects socially deprived populations, Dr Mastracci theorised that integrating social prescribing could benefit those at highest risk, simultaneously alleviating pressure on the pathway and improving patient outcomes.

A key data point supporting the use of social prescribing in secondary care was the gender split between typical users of social prescribing services and those presenting with acute cardiovascular issues. While 84 per cent of patients within cardiovascular pathways were men, 60 per cent of social prescribing users were women. Research has shown that women consult primary care services 32 per cent more frequently than men, suggesting that secondary care could play a central role in engaging men, who might otherwise remain underserved by traditional social prescribing models.

“Overall, we have found that we encounter a different group of patients compared with those who access social prescribing in primary care.”

Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery, Barts Health

This reinforced Dr Mastracci’s belief in the merit of social prescribing within secondary care – clearly, more effort was needed to engage men, particularly for CVD patients who could benefit from greater social support.

Building a collaborative approach

Several specialties within the Trust had also identified unmet social needs as a key driver of service demand, and had begun implementing social prescribing programmes within their pathways. However, these initiatives were siloed, staff-led and reliant on temporary funding or fixed grants. To enhance collaboration and sustainability, Dr Mastracci established a multidisciplinary network of staff across primary and secondary care to drive a more integrated and formalised approach.

Finding limited guidance on implementing social prescribing within secondary care, Dr Mastracci’s CVD team set out to develop a replicable model for implementing it as part of secondary care pathways. Keen to apply the same rigorous standards as with a medical intervention, the team partnered with health economists at the University of East London. They incorporated EQ-5D instruments and QALY (quality-adjusted life years) metrics to evaluate the potential impact of social prescribing on both patients and the wider health and care system.

Recognising the need for greater institutional knowledge and community expertise, the team also partnered with the Bromley by Bow Centre (now Bromley by Bow Health), a leading VCSFE (Voluntary, Community, Social, and Faith Enterprise) community health organisation. This collaboration led to the embedding of a social prescriber within the hospital’s heart attack pathway, screening patients entering the pathway for financial or other social needs.

Implementation and outcomes

Once identified, social prescribers provided patients with six to eight support sessions, connecting them to local services and community groups tailored to their specific social needs. Beyond financial deprivation, patients received support for needs including housing, talking therapies, and healthy lifestyle support such as smoking and alcohol cessation, or physical activity and weight management – all of which play key roles in determining a person’s risk of developing CVD-related conditions.

The social prescribers were drawn from diverse backgrounds and communities, to work in collaboration with clinicians and consultants from secondary care, patient advocate groups, VSCFE organisations and others. This multidisciplinary approach facilitated a holistic and patient-centred approach. The experiences and lessons from creating the CVD social prescribing pathway were later used to inform other specialties as they implemented similar services within their pathways.

“We believe strongly in the importance of ‘place’ and thus many of our social prescribers meet patients in the community where they live to engage and provide support.”

Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery, Barts Health

Dr Mastracci acknowledges that it will take years to fully assess the impact of Barts Health’s social prescribing programmes. “We know these target groups are admitted at higher rates than their peers,” Dr Mastracci told ICJ, “but it will take years to evaluate the long-term effects.”

Despite this, early results have been promising, notably within children and young people’s (CYP) diabetes services. Led by Dr Myuri Moorthy, Diabetes Consultant and Clinical Lead for Young Adult Diabetes (YAD) at Barts Health, clinicians in the pathway had noticed a concerning increase in non-adherence to self-management protocols, often linked to concurrent financial and psychosocial issues. The service also saw high numbers of patients not attending appointments (DNAs), largely due to distress, burnout, and the intense mental health toll associated with diabetes.

Poor diabetes self-management is well known to increase the likelihood of complications. This prompted the diabetes team to adopt a co-designed and personalised model, including a multi-disciplinary team of social prescribers, youth workers and a psychologist. The aim of the YAD Social Prescribing Service was to improve patient engagement, reduce DNAs and maximise the impact of each clinical appointment.

Together with service users, the team co-developed a series of interventions, including monthly peer support meetings, a WhatsApp group and a ‘walk and talk’ group, securing funding from NHSE for two and a half years. During this time, the team successfully:

Reduced the DNA rate across the Trust from 39 per cent to 12.5 per cent
Cut diabetes-related hospital admissions of CYP by 36 per cent across all Barts sites
Generated financial savings of an estimated £62,500 per year across the Trust

More outcomes from the prevention initiatives across Barts Health, including economic and demand savings, stronger integrated community networks and improved outcomes and patient experience, can be found on pages 26-30 of the toolkit.

Gaining leadership buy-in

As with many prevention-based interventions, the impact of social prescribing on health and care systems can take years to fully assess. In its paper on integrated neighbourhood teams (within which social prescribers typically sit), The National Association of Primary Care suggests that “savings will be non-cash releasing, but this is not as issue as what is required is capacity and health improvement.” However, this long-term approach does not easily align with NHS funding cycles, which typically require demonstrable return on investment within 12 months.

Currently, all of Barts Health’s social prescribing pathways are funded individually, on an ad hoc basis. The CVD project, for example, was initially funded by NHSE, but is now supported by Barts Charity. To move towards trust-wide funding, TPHC’s Secondary Care Project Manager, Mollie McCormick, emphasises the need to develop:

Robust databases and coding frameworks to accurately track interventions and outcomes over time
Qualitative data collection from patients benefiting from social prescribing, with an emphasis on reduced need for healthcare services and thus cost savings

Bridging the gap between identifying social needs that drive demand and demonstrating short-term cost savings remains a challenge. However, securing the backing and support of senior clinical leadership is critical in building the case for long-term investment.

For social prescribing initiatives to gain trust-wide funding in future, structural changes are needed to prioritise long-term prevention and strengthen outcomes-based commissioning. Different approaches could involve integrated care systems incentivising prevention by:

Setting realistic and appropriate prevention targets for NHS trusts to influence commissioning decisions towards the implementation of personalised care and prevention initiatives
Introducing penalties for avoidable readmissions

These targets could be assessed by monitoring readmission rates for specific condition cohorts or high-demand service areas, ensuring a measurable focus on prevention.

The toolkit: Embedding and Connection Prevention in Specialist Care

Barts Health and Transformation Partners in Health in Care have now published their toolkit, Embedding and Connecting Prevention in Specialist Pathways. Along with background information on the benefits of social prescribing and community-led prevention, the toolkit addresses some of the key systemic barriers that Barts Health encountered while implementing initiatives across various pathways and specialties.

Using case studies and the first-hand insights from patients, social prescribers and clinicians, the toolkit offers practical guidance for those looking to implement community-led prevention approaches, such as social prescribing, in secondary care. It also provides an overview of key Barts Health prevention networks and identifies the leaders driving this work across the Trust. The toolkit offers a valuable resource for anyone working in an acute setting wanting to embed social prescribing into their services or to prioritise the prevention of ill health in NHS Trusts across London and nationally.

Social prescribing: A key enabler of NHS prevention goals

Emerging evidence strongly supports social prescribing as a cost-effective intervention for tackling the wider determinants of health and addressing the often-overlapping health inequalities that contribute to high demand for NHS services.

Further, as the government seeks to move more care from hospitals to communities as part of its ‘three shifts’, initiatives like social prescribing will be increasingly vital. By reducing pressure on secondary care services and helping local systems meet their financial and operational goals, social prescribing plays a crucial role in shaping the future of preventative, person-centred and sustainable healthcare.

Special thanks to Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery at Barts Health, and Mollie McCormick, Secondary Care Project Manager at Transformation Partners in Health and Care, for their time and input in developing this article.

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UK digital health company launches Prevention Innovation Fund to support ICSs

By Integrated Care Journal

Holly Health has announced a £320,000 fund, offering systems access to psychology-based digital health services, enabling system leaders to move forward with prevention initiatives.

Long-term conditions (LTCs), mental health challenges, and multimorbidity rates are rising, with lifestyle risk factors the biggest cause. This is impacting system costs (£18.4 billion, or over three quarters of NHS expenditure, is spent on long-term care per year) and workplace sickness (38 per cent of people of working age on long-term sickness, report having 5 or more LTCs). The vast majority of people living with these challenges currently get no tailored support for lifestyle health improvement.

Holly Health has today announced a £320,000 Prevention Innovation Fund, offering up to four integrated care systems (ICSs) (or equivalents in Scotland and Wales) up to £80,000 credit each towards deploying a proven, psychology-based digital health coaching service, to increase self-management support across their region.

The goal of the fund is to help NHS system leaders to move forward with large scale prevention initiatives efficiently, supporting progress towards the three new UK healthcare strategy ‘shifts’, from treatment to prevention, hospital to community and analogue to digital.

Holly Health is a fully digital, yet personalised, health coaching service which supports patients to develop sustainable health habits across mental and physical health and most lifestyle risk factors.

Backed by the NHS Innovation accelerator, and with more than 200 GP practices partnerships around the UK, Holly Health outcomes show significant average health improvements across areas like exercise, mental wellbeing, weight and blood pressure. Additionally, GP appointments show consistent reductions after using Holly Health, especially in more frequent service users.

Steve Woodford, NHS Non-Executive Director at NHS England, said: “The NHS has an opportunity to shift towards a proactive, preventive and personalised care system, with the help of technology. Services like Holly Health can help to drive these changes affordably and efficiently. This is a great opportunity for ICB teams, enabling scalable self-management support for people living with or at risk of long-term conditions.”

There are two main ways in which ICSs will be able to launch Holly Health at scale. One is via traditional routes, deploying Holly Health via primary care and public health services. The second, a route fit for the future NHS, is to launch Holly Health to members of the public, via the NHS App, made possible by a brand-new collaboration between Holly Health and Patients Know Best, also announced today.

Patients Know Best (PKB) is the UK’s leading personal health record platform, enabling patients to access and contribute to their health records using the PKB website and via the NHS App. The new Holly Health and PKB integration allows the Holly Health digital health coaching service, and PKB records to ‘speak’ to each other, so that members of the public can transfer blood pressure readings and lifestyle health data into their personal records. ICS teams will also have the new opportunity to reveal access to Holly Health coaching, via PKB and the NHS app, supporting the government’s vision for a single place for people to manage their health.

Grace Gimson, chief executive at Holly Health, said: “We’re extremely excited to make this double announcement: the launch of our Prevention Innovation Fund, and go-live of our partnership with PKB. Both have the potential to drive huge systemic changes in UK healthcare, driving prevention and personalised patient care forward, at population scale.”

Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, chief executive at PKB, said: “Holly Health’s pioneering approach to preventative care, perfectly complements PKB’s mission of empowering patients with their health data. Together, we’re creating a seamless experience where patients can proactively manage their wellbeing and maintain a complete, holistic view of their health, all in one place to share with whoever they need to.”

ICSs, and their equivalents in Scotland and Wales, wishing to find out more about the Prevention Innovation Fund, and to apply, should contact hello@hollyhealth.io.

Catherine Davies, Director of Digital Healthcare Council, commented: “Holly Health’s new Innovation Fund is a great opportunity for NHS systems to deploy evidence-based solutions at scale. Their digital health coaching helps accelerate the Government’s three shifts, particularly from treatment to prevention, delivering measurable outcomes for the NHS while empowering patients to take control of their health.”

AXREM launches imaging IT Manifesto at the home of code breaking

By Integrated Care Journal

On 2nd April, almost 100 AXREM members and key external stakeholders gathered at Bletchley Park Museum for the launch of the AXREM Imaging IT Manifesto: Here to Enhance Patient Care and Improve Outcomes.

AXREM, the Association for Healthcare Technology Providers for Imaging, Radiotherapy and Care, has released its latest manifesto, Here to Enhance Patient Care and Improve Outcomes, at a specially convened event hosted at Bletchley Park. AXREM is the trade association representing the suppliers of diagnostic medical imaging, radiotherapy, healthcare IT and care equipment in the UK.

Bletchley Park was the headquarters of the British Military Intelligence Government Code and Cipher School during World War II. The estate employed 12,000 code breakers and staff. Bletchley Park was where Alan Turing and other agents of the Ultra intelligence project decoded the enemy’s secret messages, most notably those that had been encrypted with the German Enigma and Tunny cipher machines.

The event and venue were supported by headline sponsors Medihive, Sectra and Soliton IT and our other event sponsors Barco and Magentus.

The event kicked off in the Fellowship Auditorium with an opening address by AXREM Chief Executive Office, Sally Edgington, who told the audience: “I am sure you will agree in the world of healthcare, imagination is a powerful tool. It fuels innovation, creativity, and the breakthroughs that transform lives. Every medical advancement we’ve seen and every life-saving treatment, every new technology, every improvement in care began with someone imagining what could be. From the discovery of penicillin to the invention of imaging technologies that AXREM members provide today, that allow us to see inside the body, it all began simply by imagining.

“Imagine a world where communication was entirely encrypted, hidden behind layers of codes and puzzles, making it impossible for anyone to understand the information unless they had the key. For centuries, such encryption kept secrets safe, but it also prevented progress. It was only when brilliant minds like those who broke the Enigma code during World War II decided to challenge the impossible, to unravel the mysteries hidden within the most complex puzzles, that the world began to change. And from that pivotal moment, we saw the birth of a revolution that would eventually shape the future of information technology, transforming every aspect of our lives including healthcare.

“Code-breaking, at its core, is about unlocking potential—breaking down barriers that prevent us from accessing the full power of knowledge. In the field of healthcare, code-breaking represents the key to unlocking new possibilities for how we diagnose, understand, treat, and prevent diseases. It symbolises the ongoing evolution of data, communication, and technology, where each innovation leads to new ways of using information to save lives and improve our well-being.”

The event welcomed Bletchley Park historian Dr Thomas Cheetham who spoke about the history of codebreaking at Bletchley Park and how it is related to modern day cyber security.

David Lawson, Director of MedTech at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) spoke about getting the basics right to support the adoption of new technologies and discussed some of what DHSC is doing to support this. Richard Evans, Chief Executive of the Society and College of Radiographers spoke about the importance of industry collaboration and the College of Radiographers Industry Partnerships Scheme (CoRIPS). Gareth Lambe, Medihive CEO, spoke about the work of Medihive, while Chris Scarisbrick, Customer Operations Director & Deputy Managing Director UK&I, spoke about Sectra’s work with medical technology and encrypted communication systems.

The focus of the event, however, was on the launch of AXREM’s Imaging IT Manifesto. AXREM Imaging IT Convenor and Chief Commercial Officer at Soliton IT, Bob Childe spoke about the manifesto in detail and concluded with the manifestos calls to action. Bob ended his speech by advising attendees, that AXREM members are our strength, and he hopes that key external stakeholders will call upon AXREM member expertise to assist in addressing many of the things in the manifesto.

Health leaders call for national redundancy pot to fund NHS job cuts

By Integrated Care Journal

NHS leaders are urging the Chancellor to rapidly create a national staff redundancy fund to smooth the pathway to the major budget cuts they are being required to make this year by the government.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have been charged with cutting their running costs by 50 per cent from October 2025, with individual plans to be submitted for government approval by the end of May 2025. Alongside this, NHS trusts have been told to reduce their “corporate cost growth” by half the amount from the year before the pandemic.

But without a national fund that NHS trusts and ICBs can access, NHS leaders say the redundancy programme will take much longer to deliver and will reduce the level of savings from job cuts that can be delivered this year.

This would mean that the NHS would then start the following financial year, the point at which the government’s Ten-Year Plan for Health would begin its implementation, in a state of financial deficit. Health leaders fear that doing this would put the reform agenda, including the commitment to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks by the end of Parliament and to shift more care into the community, at risk.

While recent media reports have suggested up to 30,000 roles across the NHS could be removed, including through the planned abolition of NHS England, and that the total bill could reach £1bn, the NHS Confederation has heard varying figures from leaders on the extent of their expected cuts.

Some leaders of NHS trusts have said they are each looking to cut between 200 and 500 roles, while some ICB leaders have said they are likely to remove anywhere between 300 and 400.

Several trust leaders said that they were budgeting for around £12m worth of redundancy payouts and associated costs.

When looking at the proportion of the workforce that could be removed across NHS trusts, individual estimates from leaders have varied from 3 per cent to more than 11 per cent.

Health service leaders have warned that without access to a dedicated redundancy fund, as was confirmed for NHS England staff in its abolition in the Spring Statement, the process of scaling down will take much longer than the government has asked.

If they are forced to provide the necessary payouts from their own budgets, they say the process will be markedly slowed down and risks stalling the efficiency savings they can make. Recent analysis has already revealed that the gap between trusts’ regular income and expenditure is £6bn, and that this underlying deficit could derail the government’s reform plans.

One NHS trust CEO said: “Essentially, without clear guidance on underwriting redundancy options, whether these are voluntary, mutual, or compulsory, we are dependent on natural turnover and … [other] processes, which are slow and cumbersome.

“Accelerating savings would be possible if the underwriting of impacts could be funded within the year.”

Another said: “We are not planning a redundancy programme as it will be unaffordable, our plan is to reduce headcount through natural turnover although this puts a level of risk on delivery.”

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, called on the government to commit to urgently establishing a redundancy fund for NHS trusts and ICBs. He said: “Health leaders understand the troubling financial situation facing the country and the need to improve efficiency where they can, as they have already demonstrated by significantly reducing their planned deficit for the year ahead.

“However, the scale and pace of what has been asked of them to downsize is staggering and leaves them fearful of being able to find the right balance between improving performance and implementing the reforms needed to put the NHS on a sustainable footing.

“They have told us that unless the Treasury urgently creates a national redundancy fund to cover these job losses, any savings the government hopes to make risks being eroded, at best and completely wiped out, at worst. If the Ten-Year Plan for Health is to be realised, it requires the NHS to be in a position of financial stability.”

The call from NHS leaders to create a national redundancy fund comes as the government finalises its Ten-Year Plan for Health as well as the three-year funding settlement that will be announced as part of the Spending Review in June.

NHS leaders anticipate the settlement will be much less than the long term historical average increase of around 4 per cent per year with the government’s latest Spring Statement already revealing that the funding increase for 2026/27 will drop to 1.8 per cent in real terms.

BSI to deliver quality assessment across the Age UK Network through new partnership

By Integrated Care Journal

A new partnership designed to assess quality across the Age UK network, in order to ensure the safety and well-being of older people, has been agreed by BSI and Age UK.

Business standards and improvement company BSI will support Age UK, a leading charity for older people, with the delivery of quality assessment services as part of a new partnership agreed between the two organisations. The partnership will see BSI provide an external quality assessment programme for organisations that use the name ‘Age UK’ against the Age UK Network Charity Quality Standard (CQS). Previously, this had been conducted by a different assessment company.

With a rapidly ageing society in the UK, the services and support the Age UK network provides to older people are increasingly important to managing demand on health and care services. This also comes at a time when a reported nine in 10 charities face increased demand, meaning it has never been more crucial to ensure that a consistent level of quality is offered across the country.

The Age UK network includes 118 Local Age UK Partners, as well as four National Partners – Age UK, Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age Northern Ireland. While all organisations that are part of the Age UK network are independent charities with their own funding, governance and management arrangements in place, they are all required to meet an agreed set of quality expectations which are outlined in the Age UK Network Quality Assurance Framework.

The CQS is one of several quality standards within the Quality Assurance Framework, which is designed to help charities operate more effectively and efficiently. The standard covers 13 quality areas including governance, managing people, managing money and safeguarding. It also focuses on ensuring that each member of the Age UK Network is legally compliant and practices effective risk management to ensure quality and consistency, alignment with strategy, and the effective use of resources in the provision of services to ensure the well-being and safety of older people.

BSI has designed the assessment programme to ensure that all members of the Age UK Network meet the requirements of the CQS. The initial programme will commence from April 2025 for three years with BSI.

Simon Healey, UK&I Operations and System Certification Director at BSI, said: “BSI is delighted to be partnering with Age UK, a fellow purpose driven organization, on this important initiative, which aims to help make a positive impact on society. As an organization committed to driving quality and ensuring positive outcomes, we are proud to be running an assessment program that will support Age UK in its mission to improve the lives of older people across the country. We look forward to working closely with the team to help them achieve their goals and continue their vital work in the community.”

Victoria MacGregor, Chief Network Officer at Age UK, said: “We are thrilled to be working with BSI to deliver our Charity Quality Standard assessment programme. We consulted with our Partners to select the new assessment provider and were all impressed by BSI’s partnership approach in which they work with their clients to have a positive impact and offer solutions that enhance continual improvement and meet best practice.

“We are also pleased that the BSI ‘mark’ will provide external recognition and demonstrate that we take quality seriously through our standard now being assessed by these external experts.”

Psychology integrated into trust-wide EPR at LHCH NHS FT

By Integrated Care Journal

The innovation at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust sees a single digital system delivering a unified patient record, supporting patients’ psychological needs as they undergo treatment.

The Clinical Health Psychology team (“Psychology”) at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH NHS FT) has extended, digitised and integrated its service into its established trust-wide EPR. This digital change is enabling a patient’s psychological care to be documented alongside medical care for a fuller record.

The innovation is releasing considerable and far-ranging benefits, such as streamlined processes, time savings, improved communication and care co-ordination, and enhanced patient safety.

Discussing the difference the system is making, Dr Alexandra Boughey, Principal Clinical Psychologist – Cystic Fibrosis Service and Operational Lead at LHCH NHS FT, said: “With our patient’s psychological notes now managed on the EPR and integrated with the patient’s full medical record, we can set up a team of specific users that have access to view the psychological notes. We’re saving so much time from being able to input our notes directly into the system and automatically sharing with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Psychology set out to deliver the service using a single digital system which could manage a unified patient record, to better support the team and patient care. To be effective, they needed a flexible solution that was capable of making notes available or confidential to other members of the MDT. This was crucial functionality given the confidential nature of psychology case notes and being able to maintain a patient’s privacy wishes, if required.

The Trust decided to utilise its existing Sunrise™ EPR system provided by Altera Digital Health. In a matter of months, Psychology, Altera and the trust’s digital team worked together to configure the system to meet the unique needs of the psychology service. Today, the service is using the system to manage patient questionnaires, appointments, referrals, discharges and communicate with the MDT.

Sunrise™ is also facilitating the collection of meaningful data to monitor and report on specific psychology key performance indicators (KPIs), which differ hugely to medical KPIs.

With all patient data together in one place, in real-time, it’s providing staff with a fuller picture of a patient, supporting all members of the MDT to make more informed care decisions at the point of care.

Paula Dyce, Advanced Nurse Practitioner – CF Diabetes at LHCH NHS FT, commented: “Since being able to have Psychology on our EPR system it has helped us improve patient care and communication across professionals. It has streamlined the link between physical health and mental health appointments.”

LHCH manages a lot of critically unwell patients and nearly 130,000 patient visits every year. This makes the service that the Psychology team provides to the Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) vital. The increased risks to patients cared for in the ITU makes an integrated system even more important, supporting the team to manage escalations and monitor patients more effectively with accessible notes and alerts for patients that require mental health support. The risk of losing paper notes and electronic files has also decreased which is contributing to enhanced patient safety.

Dr Alexandra Boughey added: “It’s been game changing, when you consider how time consuming the process was before. Previously, we would have to make notes on paper, transcribe them into word documents, file the document, and email/visit the wards to update the MDT with our recommendations.”

Prior to the Psychology digitisation, the EPR was already enabling the Trust to be 99.9 per cent paperless and complete all clinical documentation, order communications and prescribing. The integrated EPR has supported the LHCH’s digital transformation, enabling it to receive an ‘Outstanding’ CQC rating twice and achieve HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7 in its latest digital maturity assessment.

Rachael Fox, Executive Vice President, UK & EMEA at Altera Digital Health, said: “This latest digital transformation is a fantastic addition to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s exemplary digital journey so far. They are leading the way as digital-first trust and showcasing how it can support outstanding service delivery.”

MSE FT deploys AI-powered MyStaff App to boost compliance and efficiency

By Integrated Care Journal

With mounting pressure on nursing staff and increasing emphasis on patient safety protocols, the MyStaff App ensures that every healthcare professional has instant access to the most current clinical guidelines, reducing the risk of outdated information impacting patient care.

An AI-driven document management solution is demonstrating efficiency across NHS frontline services, reducing average document retrieval times from 10 minutes to just 30 seconds and unlocking 140,000 additional hours for patient care at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE FT).

The MyStaff App, developed in partnership with Diligram, is a cutting-edge digital governance tool designed to simplify access to over 1,500 policies, procedures, and patient care guidelines. By integrating AI-powered search, real-time updates, and mobile-first design, the app is dramatically improving workflow efficiency, reducing risk, and setting a new benchmark for digital transformation in the NHS.

With 90 per cent of the Trust’s 15,000-strong workforce actively using MyStaff App, MSE FT has demonstrated how digital innovation can drive faster, safer, and more streamlined operations across healthcare settings.

Historically, NHS staff have had to navigate outdated, fragmented systems to locate essential documents –leading to wasted time, inconsistent guideline adherence, and increased clinical risk. Before MyStaff App’s implementation, healthcare professionals at MSE FT spent an average of 10 minutes searching for a single document, adding unnecessary delays to decision-making and patient care.

Matthew Hopkins, CEO of MSE FT, explained why the Trust prioritised digital transformation: “One of the biggest inefficiencies in the NHS is time spent navigating multiple systems just to find key policies and clinical guidelines. By using AI to streamline access to critical information, we’re not only saving time but also improving compliance, patient safety, and governance across the Trust.”

Since rolling out MyStaff App in January 2024, staff adoption has risen by 78 per cent, with more than 864 documents accessed every day. These figures highlight a demand for smarter, AI-powered solutions to improve efficiency across NHS frontline services.

MyStaff App’s most significant advantage lies in its advanced AI search functionality, which allows users to retrieve the latest policies and procedures in under 30 seconds. This represents a 95 per cent reduction in search time, drastically minimising interruptions to patient care. The app’s intelligent indexing and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities mean that healthcare professionals can search for information using everyday language, removing the need for complex keyword-based queries.

Describing the impact of instant access to patient information leaflets, Dr Alex Hieatt, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at MSE FT, said: “Having immediate digital access to policies and patient information has transformed the way we work. It reduces delays, ensures patients receive guidance faster, and improves overall safety and efficiency.”

This is particularly valuable in high-pressure environments such as emergency departments, critical care and maternity services, where staff need to make rapid, evidence-based decisions without being slowed down by administrative barriers.

Beyond efficiency, MyStaff App is also enhancing governance and compliance. Before the app’s introduction, guideline compliance at MSE FT stood at 76 per cent. Since adoption, compliance rates have surged to 98 per cent and have remained consistently high for over six months.

Harriet Dobbs, Matron in Antenatal and Postnatal Services, highlighted how digital transformation is reducing clinical variation and improving consistency in patient care: “Having a single source of truth for policies means that when a guideline is updated, every nurse and doctor is working from the most current version. That kind of real-time synchronisation is critical for patient safety and regulatory compliance.”

With real-time audit tracking, MyStaff App allows healthcare leaders to monitor which documents are being accessed, when, and by whom – providing unprecedented visibility into workforce engagement and compliance levels.

As part of the NHS’s £2 billion digital transformation strategy, AI-powered solutions like MyStaff App are playing a crucial role in modernising outdated processes, improving workforce efficiency, and ensuring greater transparency in hospital operations.

Leslie Golding, CEO of Diligram, believes AI-driven automation is the future of NHS digital governance. She commented: “The NHS generates vast amounts of data every day, yet outdated systems mean much of that information is difficult to access or underutilised. MyStaff App is designed to bridge this gap, providing AI-powered automation that makes policy retrieval faster, compliance tracking smarter, and healthcare workflows more efficient.”

Unlike traditional document management systems, MyStaff App is fully optimised for mobile use, ensuring frontline staff can access guidelines from anywhere, at any time—whether on ward rounds, in theatres, or during patient consultations.

The success of MyStaff App at MSE FT has already led to wider adoption, with University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) rolling out the system.

As NHS organisations continue to seek scalable, high-impact digital solutions, MyStaff App’s proven efficiency gains and compliance improvements make it an attractive model for national implementation.

Matthew Hopkins sees MyStaff App as a blueprint for NHS-wide transformation. He said: “One of the biggest inefficiencies in the NHS is time spent navigating multiple systems just to find key policies and clinical guidelines. By using AI to streamline access to critical information, we’re not only saving time but also improving compliance, patient safety, and governance across the Trust.”

With NHS leaders pushing for greater automation, better data management, and AI-enhanced decision-making, MyStaff App is part of a broader shift towards intelligent, integrated digital ecosystems in healthcare.

Key priorities for the next phase of NHS digital transformation include:

Further AI-driven automation to streamline document approval workflows
Integration with wider NHS systems for seamless interoperability
Enhanced analytics to provide Trust leaders with deeper insights into staff engagement and compliance trends

As demand for smarter, AI-powered solutions grows, MyStaff App is proving that real-world digital innovation is possible and already making a measurable impact on NHS frontline efficiency.

Innovative financing: Unlocking the potential of digital health and technology

By Stephen McMillan, Solutions Leader, Europe and UK & Ireland at Philips

With traditional medical equipment financing models becoming unsustainable, flexible financing options are increasingly helping healthcare providers improve their financial efficiency and supporting long-term digital health transformation.

The UK healthcare industry is undergoing a major digital transformation, with innovation already improving care in many areas from reducing waiting times and enabling earlier diagnoses, to delivering better access to care and outcomes for patients. Embracing new technology can help to unlock productivity, giving staff more time to focus on patient care, while also having a positive impact on the planet.

But for many healthcare providers, the high cost of traditional commercial models makes adopting cutting-edge technology a challenge. In fact, according to the Philips UK Future Health Index, a staggering 92 per cent of healthcare leaders say financial pressures are impacting their ability to deliver timely, high-quality care. Even more concerning, 77 per cent report that these financial strains have forced them to delay, scale back, or even cancel investments in medical equipment and technology – worsening existing bottlenecks and slowing down patient care.

Innovative financing approaches, such as pay-per-use (PPU) and “as-a-service” models, integrated into managed service agreements, give healthcare providers flexible, cost-effective access to technology, without large upfront investments. These models also de-risk investment and can help to enhance productivity, improve financial efficiency, and support long-term digital health sustainability.

Flexibility that adapts to demand

As demand for diagnostic and treatment procedures grows, healthcare providers face squeezed budgets and rising costs. IFRS16 (the International Financial Reporting Standard on Leases) now requires leasing costs to be counted as ‘capital’ on balance sheets, and CDEL (Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit) limits capital spend, even when cash is available. Traditional equipment financing, like leasing, is becoming less sustainable.

This is where flexible financing options such as PPU and “as-a-service” models are transforming how hospitals access and use technology. These models enable hospitals to only pay for what they use, reducing financial risk while ensuring access to the latest innovations. This flexibility helps them scale technology adoption based on patient demand and operational needs, keeping systems up to date and healthcare more adaptable.

Boosting productivity with managed services

Managing complex healthcare technology in-house can be time-consuming and resource intensive. The Future Health Index reports that 80 per cent of healthcare leaders have seen increased incidence of burnout, stress and mental health issues among their staff, with knock-on effects for patient care. A renewed focus on supporting staff is needed.

Managed services offer an alternative approach, where healthcare providers partner with experts to oversee equipment, IT infrastructure, and digital health solutions. This ensures technology runs at peak efficiency, reducing downtime and administrative burdens, freeing up staff to focus on patient care instead of maintenance. At the same time predictable cost structures improve financial planning. Ultimately, managed services can improve productivity, reliability, and performance in healthcare.

Smarter spending through outsourcing

Beyond operational benefits, outsourcing healthcare services can also provide significant tax advantages. Managed services can help hospitals identify and recover VAT from eligible equipment purchases, leading to greater tax efficiencies and improved cash flow.

This financial flexibility means hospitals can maximise use of their budgets, ensure compliance and redirect savings toward critical patient services.

Sustaining technology for the future

Sustainability is becoming a key priority for healthcare providers, and innovative financing can support long-term technology longevity. Lifecycle management solutions will extend the useful life of medical devices and IT systems through proactive upgrades, maintenance, and refurbishments.

This approach not only reduces electronic waste – such as outdated or discarded medical devices and IT equipment – and environmental impact, but also ensures that hospitals are always working with the latest, most efficient technology. By adopting sustainable financing and lifecycle strategies, healthcare organisations can reduce costs, improve operational resilience, and align with NHS net zero goals.

A new approach to healthcare technology

Innovative financing is reshaping how hospitals access and manage technology. Flexible models such as pay-per-use and “as a service”, combined with tax benefits and lifecycle management in managed services, help providers to stay ahead in the digital health revolution – without the financial strain of traditional procurement. At the same time, sustainable technology management ensures long-term value and cost-effectiveness.

By embracing these innovative financing strategies, organisations can boost efficiency, improve patient care, and achieve financial sustainability, ultimately unlocking the full potential of digital health and technology.

This article was kindly supported by Philips