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SPaedIT is revolutionizing pediatric healthcare in the post-pandemic era by addressing critical data gaps and backlogs.
Introduction Clinical Homecare offers a unique solution to some of the NHS’ key challenges, providing vital care to over 600,000 patients with chronic health conditions while mitigating the strain on traditional UK healthcare systems. The decision to opt for Clinical Homecare is collaboratively made by patients and their medical teams, with funding predominantly provided by […]
As of November 2023, the NHS faced a significant challenge with approximately 7.61 million patients on waiting lists for various treatments. This figure underscores a critical issue within the healthcare system, highlighting both the clinical risks associated with delayed follow-ups and the operational strains on healthcare resources. Addressing Waiting List Challenges with PIFU The concept […]
AI-Teledermatology: Innovating Skin Cancer Diagnostics The healthcare system in England and Wales is experiencing unprecedented pressure due to the sharp rise in demand for dermatology services. With one in four individuals seeking consultation for skin, hair, or nail conditions each year, the need for innovative solutions has never been greater. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this […]
There is no greater source of pressure in the NHS at the moment than staff shortages. Rising demand, growing complexity and lengthening waitlists, combined with high turnover, absence and staff leaving the NHS post-Covid, have created a gap between demand and supply of staff. Understanding and responding to this gap is a complex problem across […]
Introduction In 2020, 37,211 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in England. 68% of this population is at an advanced stage and has limited life expectancy. People with advanced lung cancer have complex care needs and often experience high levels of GP appointments, hospital admissions and extended lengths of stay while awaiting diagnosis and treatment. […]
There are unprecedented challenges facing health, care and communities, and a need to change how we work in response. There is huge potential in the data and capabilities already available within systems, and opportunities to address growing activity, financial and workforce pressures by making best-use of limited resources. It is critical that systems have a […]
Introduction A decade of Staffing shortages, low bed capacity and a devastating 2-year pandemic has culminated in an unprecedented backlog of elective procedures for the NHS with over 7 million patients currently waiting for care in England. As a response to these growing waitlists, the NHS conceived the national high-volume low-complexity (HVLC) programme during the […]
Edge health led a health economic evaluation of the Mental Health Urgent Assessment Centre (MHUAC) within Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), working closely with both the project team at LPFT and the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN). Working in partnership with Edge Health has really added value to the evaluation process, they […]
Challenges in the Existing Healthcare System for Chemotherapy Patients Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have to navigate a complex healthcare system at a particularly stressful point in their lives. Various patient management apps exist to support both patients and providers with this treatment pathway. However, a lack of a single source of information disadvantages both patients […]
Overview More than any other, one question we repeatedly get asked is “how many beds?”. Whether planning, improving patient flow, speeding-up discharge, producing business cases or responding to Covid-19, bedded capacity is frequently the biggest factor affecting both efficiency and outcomes. Robustly analysing patient flow and bed utilisation can drive effective decision-making and can facilitate […]
Diagnostics is moving into focus The focus for efficiency gains has traditionally been on theatres, inpatient and outpatient activity and more recently the growing elective backlog. Diagnostics, however, have acquired a new emphasis since COVID. This is because significant backlog in diagnostics is causing delays in finding cancers (you can read more about this on […]
There is a recurrent emphasis on the need for Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to address health inequalities, as highlighted by media outlets, conferences, and reports. Addressing these disparities is a monumental task, especially for the newly established ICSs, which have been tasked with not only establishing new governance and strategies but also tackling an elective […]
As the NHS grapples with ever-growing demand for secondary care from the elective backlog and aging population, establishing an efficient patient flow out of secondary care is fundamental for alleviating system pressures. Minimising acute capacity required for delayed discharges and ensuring patients have the right level of support available to them upon discharge, at home […]
We can all agree that cancer does not go on holiday. Yet during the winter months, referrals for suspected skin cancer in England decline steeply. The National Health Service (NHS) collects extensive data that presents a golden opportunity for improvement and targeted interventions. For instance, by examining the data on skin cancer referrals, we can identify […]
Learn about our recent work with a national program and how we use Azure tools to build efficient and robust data pipelines to ensure data integrity, scale, and reliability.
One of the ways in which the NHS is trying to reduce the list of patients waiting for surgery is by enabling increased theatre throughput. A method of achieving this is bundling high-volume, low-complexity surgeries together and thus operating on these more efficiently. To understand the impact of this nationally as well as monitor implementation over time, GIRFT and the NHS more generally needed to collect theatre data on a national scale and refresh it regularly.
Being able to plan proactively to devise flexible bed configurations is a major challenge for Trusts that strive to improve the services they provide to patients and meet their changing needs. Edge Health was recently approached by a large specialist Trust that wished to better understand their bed requirements. The Trust wanted to challenge the […]
Over a year ago (February 2022) NHSE set out clear targets for maximum wait times for elective care, as part of the plan for dealing with the pandemic-induced backlog.The aim has been to achieve zero 78-week waits (78WW) by the end of last month, zero 65WW by March 2024, and zero 52WW by March 2025. […]
Elective recovery targets – a confusing landscape The first quarter of 2022 saw the launch of NHSE’s elective recovery plan, setting out a trajectory to carry out 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than before the pandemic. The first goalpost was set at achieving a 10% increase in completed pathways during 2022/23, with additional funding […]
For many NHS Trusts, care for private patients is a critical part of their business model, with the income generated directly funding front-line NHS care. As budgets continue to come under pressure, there is an opportunity to expand the private care offer, delivering greater benefits for both private and NHS patients. However, deciding if as […]
NHS Arden and GEM (AGEM) have been undertaking a programme of value proposition workstreams to shape their multidisciplinary approach to supporting current and future customers as they rapidly evolve. This work included benchmarking current and future analytic products and services, and shaping how best to continue to develop and improve these offers. To support this […]
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most commonly occurring heart arrhythmia, and a major preventable cause of stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular complications. Many patients are only diagnosed with AF when they experience complications, with an estimated half a million undiagnosed AF patients living in the UK. Causing an estimated 20% of strokes in the […]
Persistent health inequalities among children in the UK remain a significant policy issue, with the COVID-19 pandemic laying bare the drastic differences in health outcomes between different socio-economic groups. In particular, inadequate access to primary care in deprived areas leads to a higher number of non-urgent A&E attendances, risking the fragmentation of children’s healthcare. That’s where data comes in – by examining data, we can better understand the causes of pediatric health disparities and use insights to drive targeted interventions. Learn more about the potential of data-driven solutions to combat health inequality among children in our latest blog post.
Happy International Women’s Day! This year’s theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” is especially close to our heart. At Edge Health, we are lucky to boast a team of 13 incredible women, all bringing invaluable contribution to innovation and technology in healthcare analytics and consulting.
Last week, Edge Health turned six years-old! We are proud to share with you the achievements that have allowed us to grow into a team of 23, complete over 200 projects and continue to add value to healthcare across multiple nations.
After what seemed to be a potential recovery of ambulance response times in November 2022, the latest data release from NHS Digital shows that response times have taken a significant downturn, hitting the highest on record. Since 2020 there has been a large increase in mean response times across all incident categories. C2 incidents (serious […]
The NHS planning guidance released at the end of last year has placed particular emphasis on acute care, elective recovery, primary care and mental health. In order to support ICBs in responding effectively to the targets, Edge Health has created an interactive dashboard that summarises six key metrics covering community and secondary care making use […]
Standards introduced in October 2021 mandate that at least 75% of patients urgently referred by a GP[1] for suspected cancer should receive a diagnosis (or be cleared) within 28 days. In September 2022, however, 33% of them – 78,000 a month – did not receive a timely diagnosis. This reduces their chances of survival considerably […]
The pandemic has powered new ways of working across the NHS, and remote care has seen an unprecedented rise in both primary and secondary care. It allowed care to continue in the midst of a pandemic, and now, in the aftermath that has left the system heavily stretched, it provides a way to reach more […]
As the NHS continues its progression towards the era of data-driven healthcare provision, the importance of high-quality data continues to grow. Commissioners and providers, now more than ever, rely on data to signal under- and overprovision of services, so that limited resources can be reallocated where they are most needed, and more patients can receive […]
In England, 40% of new cancer diagnoses come from an urgent referral from a GP [1]. NHS hospitals are required to start cancer treatment for everyone who’s been urgently referred within 62 days. These cancer waiting times standards help ensure people are rapidly diagnosed and treated – critical for long-term outcomes such as survival. More […]
Closing the GP Workforce gap – part 6 There has been an unprecedented focus in Primary Care to make better use of digital resources, providing virtual and remote consultations. Changing consultation modes will not provide the answers we need when looking at the growing GP workforce gap, which requires focussed planning on training, retention and […]
What support networks exist for people with long-term conditions requiring specialist treatment? Long-term conditions affect around 15 million people in England, with many needing specialist care. Learning to live with a specialist long-term condition requires a strong support network of healthcare professionals, family, friends and loved ones. “The Company”[1] is a charity-run social network that […]
Background A Continuing Healthcare Assessment is an appraisal of a patient’s care needs, in order to understand if they are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). It is a vital step in ensuring that the right people get the right long-term support. As part of the recovery of services after Covid-19, the NHS CHC business […]
Closing the GP Workforce gap – part 5 30% of GP appointments are due to musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions – nearly 49million in 2021. The solutions that GPs can provide is often limited – self-management and analgesia, referrals to secondary care or physiotherapy. By contrast, physiotherapists working in primary care can avoid unnecessary referrals, reducing admin […]
Timely diagnosis of ADHD in children is crucial for accessing effective management and treatment services, which support better outcomes for individuals and their families. Access to timely ADHD diagnosis services was challenging in many regions even before the pandemic. In Canada and internationally, this has worsened since the start of the pandemic – with the […]
Background The NHS Long Term Plan Implementation plan committed to provide enhanced Tier 3 services for people living with more severe obesity and comorbidities. The existing provision of Tier 3 and Tier 4 services varied materially between different places and the level of this variation was not well understood. To support improved service provision and […]
– Closing the GP Workforce gap (part 4) If the PRUComm National GP Worklife Survey (funded by the NIHR) and the latest member survey by the RCGP are right, we stand to lose between 9,000 and 11,500 GPs in the next 5 years, with those figures doubling over a decade, to 18,000 by 2032. Over […]
With over 750,000[i] people currently waiting for elective orthopaedic operations in England, there has never been a greater need for highly productive units working in partnership. Edge Health was therefore honoured to sponsor and present the Partnerships and Integration Initiative award at the recent National Orthopaedic Alliance Awards event. The winner of the award, South […]
– Closing the GP Workforce gap (part 3) The single biggest challenge in closing the GP workforce gap is the issue of supply. With numbers of qualified GPs effectively decreasing each year due to retirement, changes in working patterns and leavers, we need a strategy that will replenish our workforce faster than retirement rate. This […]
The recovery from Covid, combined with a growing and aging population, is placing ever greater pressure on the NHS. In order to plan for this pressure, understanding the drivers of demand in secondary and tertiary care is of paramount importance. Knowing why, and to what extent, demand will grow is essential for appropriate service planning. […]
– Closing the GP Workforce gap (part 2) Last week we provided an overview of our analysis of the GP workforce gap and the steps that can be taken, starting today, to prepare primary care for 2032. In this post, we highlight the potential benefits – both on workforce and more – that can be […]
It takes 10 years to train a GP. Therefore, interventions we put in place today may not bear fruit until as late as 2032. We estimate that by 2032 we will need 39,000 fully-qualified full-time equivalent GPs* to meet the growing demand, if we aim to halve the current vacancy rate of 17%, as reported […]
Background to GIRFT The Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) programme was made possible with funding from the Department of Health announced by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt in November 2016. Building on the conclusions of the Lord Carter Review, GIRFT developed and established a methodology for evidencing […]
Delivering consistent consultant level outcome data to NHS staff via the National Consultant Information Programme “Edge have been an important partner in helping develop the National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP). Edge colleagues have been delightful to work with and their expertise has been highly valued” Professor Sir Norman Williams, Chair: National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP) […]
Changing access to medicines from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription-only, or vice versa, has varying implications for individuals, healthcare systems, and society as a whole. Understanding the potential impacts of reclassifying a drug enables informed decisions to be made around it’s access. With a need for robust analysis and modelling, Edge Health were approached to undertake […]
Mechanical Thrombectomy (MT) is a highly effective treatment for acute ischaemic stroke which has compelling evidence from randomised clinical trials that it significantly reduces disability for people with stroke. Whilst around 10% of stroke patients may be eligible for MT and rates have steadily improved over the last 4 years, currently only 2% nationally receive […]
Occupational health (OH) teams keep people well at work – physically and mentally. Research shows that good health is good for business and better workplaces have better financial results. With over 130 million days lost to sickness absence every year, at an estimated cost to the economy of £100 billion, there is huge opportunity for […]
CanCollaborate tackles this issue by streamlining communication and data sharing across hospitals. This tool helps predict patient wait times, identify bottlenecks, and improve access to care for complex cases. Learn how CanCollaborate improves efficiency and patient outcomes.
Having mental health services that provide for the specific needs of the population has never been more vital. This is especially true after the Covid-19 pandemic, which has placed enormous demand on the population’s mental health services. During the continued transition to Integrated Care Systems, North West London ICS recognised the need for a data […]
Efficiently procuring goods and services for large hospital Trusts is vital for an underfunded health system. The pandemic was a frenetic period for hospital Trusts, as in very short time periods, they sought to procure equipment and contracts to manage COVID patients. There is an ongoing need to ensure procurement is performed in the most […]
In 2017/18 ophthalmology outpatient activity was reported to be greater than any other NHS speciality. This high demand has been linked to the aging population, new treatments, eye conditions requiring multiple appointments a year, unwarranted variation in referrals, as well as a lack of discharge pathways for stable and lower risk patients. Demand-driven pressures on […]
In 2019, there were 748,000 people living with dementia in England. This population typically has complex care needs, placing considerable strain on the health and social care systems as well as on individuals themselves and their carers/families – at an estimated total cost to the UK of £37.4 billion a year. Minder is a remote […]
Recently Edge health was retained by a large NHS programme in the UK to support the development of an approach to risk adjusting surgical outcome data. The client in question currently reports surgical outcome data back to practicing surgeons (confidentially) to aid them with their revalidation as well as quality improvement. Why was risk adjustment […]
Kaleidoscope Health and Care, Edge Health and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) won the category at the HSJ Partnership Awards for their work establishing digital diabetes care services. The HSJ Partnership Awards 2022 took place to celebrate and showcase those collaborations and partnerships driving transformation and improving patient outcomes across the NHS. […]
Posted 24/02/2022
Context Since Spring 2020, international air travel has been severely impacted by COVID-19 and associated restrictions. Restrictions that were introduced around the globe often involved multiple tests and quarantine requirements. Restriction regimes led to a substantial decline in travel often keeping families separated at difficult times. For those that did travel, the cost of travel […]
Restricciones de viaje en la UE: poca o ninguna eficacia en parar a ómicron Hosteltur Online, 01/02/2022 23:11…s países europeos para mitigar los riesgos para la salud pública y la sociedad que plantea la nueva variante de COVID-19 porque esta ya estaba circulando previamente a que fuera detectada.Un nuevo análisis producido por Oxera y Edge […]
Pre-departure travel tests set to be scrapped MailOnline, 05/01/2022 09:38…nchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports – and trade body Airlines UK indicated that removing all international travel testing would not affect the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK.The analysis, conducted by Oxera and Edge Health, con…… latest research by Oxera and Edge Health […]
Oxera and Edge Health have been commissioned by Manchester Airports Group (‘MAG’) to consider the impact of travel restrictions on the spread of variants in the UK, and to compare this to the impact of domestic restrictions. The Omicron variant is now highly prevalent in the UK and the government is considering what, if any, […]
Despite relatively rapid travel restrictions, Omicron will soon become the dominant variant of COVID in the UK. It has been able to achieve this by reinfecting people that have previously had COVID or vaccinations – hence it is best described as a “sneaky” variant. There is positive anecdotal evidence that Omicron is “far milder“. Still, […]
Yesterday (25/10/2021) it was announced that the NHS would receive an additional £5.9 billion in funding in an attempt to improve the state of the backlog[1]. This blog will share high-level insights and analysis on the most recent referral to treatment (RTT) data made available (August 2021). Key highlights include: RTT referrals dropped considerably throughout […]
Outpatient video consultations can deliver a range of benefits to patients and the NHS, according to a research report by Edge Health published today 14 September 2021. The report reviews 3 million video consultations over a year in one of the fastest roll-outs of a single technology in the NHS’s history. This took place in […]
REPORT INTO 3 MILLION VIDEO CONSULTATIONS DURING 12 MONTHS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HIGHLIGHTS BENEFITS TO PATIENTS AND NHS Outpatient video consultations can deliver a range of benefits to patients and the NHS, according to a research report by Edge Health published today 14 September 2021. The report reviews 3 million video consultations over a […]
Published 8 September 2021 Specialist cancer nurses play a vital role in supporting people with cancer, but their numbers have not kept pace with growing demands. As cancer incidence increases across the UK, there is an urgent/ongoing need to expand the number of specialist cancer nurses working in the NHS. Macmillan Cancer Support has been […]
Covid-19 cases are falling for the first time since the pandemic’s start without there being a national lockdown. Unless there is a secret modelling team in PHE, it is fair to say most people are moderately surprised by the continued drop in reported case numbers. The exam question is why? This drop is significant for […]
From Monday, the law will change, and all of the COVID restrictions will cease to exist – UK Freedom Day 2021. A bit like Christmas Day, Freedom Day is likely to turbocharge the rate of infection. A similar policy change in the Netherlands led to an alarming increase in infections and a formal apology from […]
Published 1 July 2021 Workplace ill-health has a significant impact on both employees and businesses, with more than 130 million days lost to sickness absence every year in Great Britain, at a potential cost to the economy of £100 billion per year. Despite this, only 45% of the workforce, and 18% of small employers, have […]
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bolton has increased over the past two weeks to levels last seen in February. The now dominant strain is the B1672 variant, which was first identified in India. More than case numbers, the big question for both the NHS and the release of lockdown is how effective the […]
The sun is shining as the UK comes out of its winter hibernation lockdown after a traumatic winter. Yet, despite a hugely successful vaccination campaign and a massive increase in testing, many people remain deeply concerned. Most of this concern surrounds variants to the Wild Type – the strain of the COVID-19 virus with no […]
Posted 25/03/2021 The first analysis of real-world UK airport passenger COVID test results by Oxera and Edge Health confirms that testing is an effective measure for reducing the transmission of the virus through travel. Data from airline trials conducted with passengers travelling to and from Heathrow found that a single test administered pre-departure was capable […]
Posted 25/03/2021 Travel corridors could mean that more than 100 countries would open up to UK visitors with no increased risk, if case rates are similar to last summer If high-performing antigen tests are administered pre-departure, the list could increase to more than 130 with the same level of accepted risk UK’s successful vaccine roll-out […]
International travel could safely reopen through the widespread adoption of high-quality rapid antigen testing shows new research. The study carried out by Edge Health and OXERA shows that antigen testing can be highly effective in detecting COVID-19 infections. The new modelling also shows that the current ten-day quarantine period required of passengers arriving in the […]
Posted 25/03/2021 A single on-arrival antigen test is as effective as a ten-day self-isolation period in reducing imported cases of COVID-19, new modelling has revealed. Based on prevalence rates at home and abroad and accounting for quarantine compliance, Edge Health and Oxera find that a single rapid antigen test would be appropriate for arrivals from […]
The much-anticipated roadmap out of lockdown was announced and published on Monday. While the prospect of heading to the disco on 21 June is exciting, the focus on dates, as opposed to data, was a shame. Also disappointed was the Tony Blair Institute. Their “lockdown lessons” paper, published last week, had suggested explicitly linking the […]
Building the resilience of the health and care system Press release – embargoed to 0001 Wednesday 17 February 2020 One in six could be on an NHS waitlist by April Waitlists in England to hit 10 million by April 52 week waits up 12,008% by April since March 2020 6 million fewer referrals to treatment in […]
Published 15 February 2021 It has been a reasonably gloomy few months, but yesterday was a day to be… more positive. Edge turned four, and data continued to emerge on the success of the vaccine programme. When Ed and I started working together a little over 16-years ago, we did not expect to start Edge. […]
As Edge Health turns four, we are proud to share some of our biggest achievements and most impactful work. In summary: Subscribe to our newsletter here Published 14th February 2021
Published 21 January 2021 An impressive 5 million people have now had their first shot of a vaccine in the UK. With around 350,000 vaccinations per day, the UK will be vaccinating over 2 million people per week – arguably ahead of expectations. But when will we start to see the effect of this enormous […]
Published 11 January 2021 Summary In England, as many as 1 in 5 people, or 12.4 million, are estimated to have had the Covid-19 disease The estimate is substantially higher than the 2.4 million confirmed cases from Public Health England, which is based on reported tests alone The new modelling estimates the total number of […]
Published 12 January 2021 Our new research, which we did for the Guardian, estimates that 1 in 5 people in England has had Covid-19. Since the start of the pandemic, that is about 12.4 million people – see grey bars in the chart below. The numbers are substantially higher than the 2.4 million confirmed infections […]
Published 5 January 2021 No one wanted to start 2021 with a national lockdown, but it was necessary to reduce the pressure mounting on the NHS. Rapidly increasing cases of Covid-19 – not as far off the levels from March, despite a huge change in social distancing – can be seen in the chart below. […]
Published 19 December 2020 Nearly 17,000 people were admitted to hospital yesterday compared to 14,000 when the November lockdown started. This alone would be worrying, but there is the added effect of rules being relaxed for Christmas. (Chart below from https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/) There is a risk that the lag between case numbers and hospitalisations and deaths […]
Published 19 December 2020 Nationally the numbers of people testing positive for Covid-19 and hospital admissions for people with Covid-19 are around the levels seen just before the second lockdown in November. The current rate of spread, partly due to a new Covid-19 variant, is more than enough to be concerned, but there was the […]
Posted 1/12/2020 Ley de Servicios Digitales (DSA): la gran normativa europea que puede cambiar internet tal y como lo conocemos Xataka, 30/11/2020 17:53 …plicables a plataformas como Twitter o Facebook deberían ser diferentes a las que se piden para controlar la App Store. Impacto que tendrá la Ley de Servicios de Digitales según el grupo […]
Published 30 November 2020 Last week the Government announced the introduction of “test and release” on day 5 for international arrivals, which replaces the 14-day quarantine requirement. This decision follows evidence from our modelling on the effectiveness of air passenger testing (see here), which was submitted to the Global Travel Taskforce. This work, which was […]
Uptake, logistics and targeting will determine if the vaccine can allow life to return to normal. We built an interactive tool that can help explore the key factors standing between us and vaccine success for all regions in the UK. by Kieran Dale, Christian Moroy and George Batchelor Last week brought the encouraging news of […]
Published 17 November 2020 England has been in lockdown 2.0 since the 5th of November. The latest round of restrictions are due to end in a little over a fortnight, and the question everyone is wondering is whether we will get to have Christmas lunch together without breaking the law. The primary focus of the […]
Published 3/11/2020 Summary UK Government’s 14-day quarantine policy is least effective at preventing Covid-19 from entering the community, compared to all forms of passenger testing. New modelling finds a single test on arrival is twice as effective as the 14-day policy with a test three days pre-departure also 44% more effective than current policy. If […]
Published 10 November 2020 Pfizer has released news that their soon to be available vaccination has 90% effectiveness. This is much higher than many expected and great news. A vaccine delivers two significant public health benefits. Firstly it stops vulnerable people from getting ill and dying, and secondly, when enough people have had the vaccine, […]
Published 3/11/2020 Summary Report shows air passenger testing after five days of quarantine in Iceland is between 83% and 90% effective. Testing after seven days in Toronto and Paris is between 84% and 90% effective. Real world evidence supports a significant reduction in current UK 14-day quarantine policy. Single tests on arrival in Canada (Toronto-Pearson […]
Published 2 November 2020 The announcement on Saturday that England will re-enter a lockdown on Thursday (subject to a vote) came as a non-surprise to anyone watching the data, but will it last just four weeks as planned? Without spoiling the punchline it is not looking good, but more data would help tremendously. Part of […]
Published 30 October 2020 Liverpool was added to the Covid-19 watchlist on the 11th of September. After a series of progressive measures (see chart below), Liverpool entered Tier 3 (very high) restrictions on the 13th of October. The good news is that after weeks of growth in new cases, the number of new cases per week […]
Published 29 October 2020 Did anyone honestly expect Covid-19 cases to increase as much as they have in the past few weeks? After a summer of socialising, while also distancing, case numbers fell to low (and seemingly manageable) levels. But now, as the chart below shows they have started to increase a lot. How did […]
This is a short summary of media covering our work on air passenger testing. For any enquiries please contact us on 020 8133 4504 or [email protected]. —- The Government’s reliance on shoddy modelling is killing travel George Batchelor, Telegraph op-ed, 22 October 2020 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/governments-reliance-shoddy-modelling-killing-travel/ Airport testing could catch six in 10 Covid carriers, research suggests […]
Published 21/10/2020, @georgebatchelor First published in the Telegraph Safely opening up the skies is a fundamental pillar of the nation’s economic recovery. Yet worryingly, the UK is being held back from reducing the 14-day quarantine and introducing a testing regime because of an over reliance on misleading modelling. That is the conclusion of our analysis […]
Published 22/10/2020 Oxera, Edge Health and Dr Kit Yates have partnered to bring together their analytical, modelling, epidemiological, health sector and aviation expertise in order to review papers from Public Health England (PHE), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) that form the basis of […]
Published 13 October 2020 Today there were 143 reported deaths, which is on a par with the numbers on the 23rd/24th of March – the date of the last national lockdown. Reported cases are also peaking (amber line in the chart below), although it is important to remember these are not total cases. The chart […]
Published 9 October 2020 Before the second wave of Covid-19 infections started to hit, we did a survey of Covid-19 sentiment. We got over 240 responses from all age groups and, thanks to Facebook, a wide range of people from across the country. The report on the survey is attached below. Some highlights: Overall, most […]
Published 5th October Yesterday (4th October) saw the most massive increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases in England since records began – 22,961.* This was a recording error. The Excel file ran out of columns. So after a week of flat Covid-19 cases, there was a spike of +22,900 cases yesterday (x3 those reported on Friday) […]
Published 18 September 2020 There were less than 1,000 positive Covid-19 cases per day over the summer. In September this jumped to nearly 3,000 per day, it is now near 4,000 per day. Similarly, tests processed have increased a lot since June – 86,000 at the start of June to around 220,000 now. Potential capacity […]
Published 10 September 2020 From Monday, no more than six people can meet together due to an increase in Covid-19 cases. Aside from ruining my birthday plans*, it is a big step after months of unpicking lockdown. Given the impact of the change and what it signals, it is important to understand what might sit […]
Published 7 September 2020 —– Edge Health analysis originally published by the Guardian Covid: at least six English NHS trusts could be overwhelmed this winter; Pamela Duncan and Ashley Kirk; 7th September 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/at-least-six-english-nhs-trusts-could-be-overwhelmed-by-covid-spike-this-winter —– Unlike some of the scenes from other countries, the NHS was largely not overwhelmed by Covid-19 in April. This was […]
A personal reflection of how Sweden have been dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic after being in Stockholm for a month. —- Walking the streets of Stockholm, you would be forgiven for thinking that Sweden has had a free pass from the Covid-19 pandemic. Outside of the airport, it is extremely rare to see people wearing […]
Published 7 September 2020 —– Edge Health analysis originally published by the HSJ Revealed: the region where 1 in 4 of the population could be waiting for hospital care by April; George Batchelor; 10th August 2020 https://www.hsj.co.uk/quality-and-performance/revealed-the-region-where-1-in-4-of-the-population-could-be-waiting-for-hospital-care-by-april/7028211.article —– The NHS entered the Covid-19 crisis, with over 4.4 million people on the waiting lists for NHS […]
Follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates (@georgebatchelor @edge_health_) Published 24 July 2020 No one that needs surgery should wait longer than 18 weeks after being referred by a GP. Unfortunately many do “breach” 18-weeks, which was met ~83% of the time pre-Covid-19. The next reporting milestone for anyone that goes past 18-weeks is […]
Follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates (@georgebatchelor @edge_health_) Published 30 June 2020 Hospital-based Covid-19 mortality figures from early March tell a chilling story of one of the first (if not the first) outbreak of Covid-19 in England. No one saw it coming, and I am not sure it is fully recognised now. On […]
Follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates (@georgebatchelor @edge_health_) Published 26 June 2020 Covid-19 has gone down. A lot.* The estimated number of infections in London are less than 1,000 compared to +1 million in April. That is a significant fall and takes us to early March levels – the days when we still […]
Published 15 June 2020 Ensuring the delivery of time-critical cancer surgery during the Covid-19 crisis, and supporting a rapid recovery of cancer services in London post-Covid-19 As Covid-19 spread quickly through London in March, there was a risk that capacity would be diverted from cancer services leading to delays in time-critical surgery. The Royal Marsden, […]
Christian Moroy, Kieran Dale, Jennifer Connolly, Paul Cusson and George Batchelor. As we are emerging from lockdown, plenty of discussions abound. Are we opening too early? Are we opening too late? A question that gets raised repeatedly is about the economic cost of the lockdown. It is clear that while we have saved many lives, […]
6 May 2020 —– This modelling and the results below were undertaken for Channel 4 Dispatches “Coronavirus Did the Government Get It Wrong?“, which was aired on the 3rd of June 2020. —– In mid-March, the number of reported Covid-19 infections were doubling every two- to three-days. So, 225 reported infections on the 10th of […]
Published 28 May 2020 Outline 1. Summary 2. Introduction 3. Methodology 4. Results 5. Caveats 1. Summary England has been in lockdown for nearly nine weeks. The rules, which are now being relaxed, have placed pressure on both the economy and individuals. The five tests that have been set out for the removal of lockdown […]
This is a short summary of international media covering our work on the impact of large events (mass gatherings) from Covid-19 during early and mid-March 2020. For any enquiries please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- UK ‘We were packed like sardines’: evidence grows of mass-event dangers early in pandemic The Guardian (June 3, […]
Published 21 May 2020 Three months ago, I travelled for three hours from home to meet the transformation leads of a hospital. They met me in the coffee shop where we dithered about shaking hands before spending three hours in a meeting discussing outpatient video consultations. They became a pilot for the NHSIE programme in […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 18 May 2020 Since the Government’s announcement last week, there have been several attempts to get under the skin of the critical variables underpinning the decision making in […]
Published 18 May 2020 Covid-19 has placed never seen before demands on the NHS. Many NHS Trusts entered the crisis with a limited understanding of the severity or length of the potential impact and what this would mean for their capacity, especially the number of available critical care and hospital beds. There is still considerable […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 14 May 2020 Many of the hospitals where we have worked tell me that Christmas day is wonderfully quiet. It tends to bear out in the data with […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 13 May 2020 For most people, it is two months since they have been able to get a good haircut – longer for anyone that didn’t see the […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 11 May 2020 Popularised in the 2011 film Contagion, R is now a core part of the UK Government’s Covid-19 recovery strategy. From now on, R will be used to […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 7 May 2020 On Sunday, Boris Johnson will set out a plan for easing lockdown. As the UK enters its sharpest recession in 300 years, any relaxation will come as […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 6 May 2020 Personal Protective Equipment for frontline staff is and has been critical to reducing exposure and viral load from treating patients with the Covid-19 disease. Access […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 5 May 2020 The UK has the highest number of reported Covid-19 deaths – mainly this seems to be due to a lag in lockdown and potentially less social distancing. […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 4 May 2020 One of the questions that get asked again-and-again is when we will be able to go back to the way things were in February before the pandemic […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 1 May 2020 Tom Moore raised over £30 million for the NHS. This is significantly better than doing a charity parachute jump – a 5-year audit of parachute injuries […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 30 April 2020 The UK is past its peak, but how does it compare to other countries? New Zealand Singapore Sweden Italy Germany Spain United States
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 30 April 2020 In 38 years, tomorrow will be the second time ever that my friend Pete has not celebrated May Day in Padstow. This time is due to Covid-19. […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Originally these slides were presented as a summary of our work to date for a webinar run by Interim Partners. —- Published 29 April 2020 Slides attached below. Please […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 29 April 2020 Many patients recovering from Covid-19 will require substantial rehabilitation. This rehab may be provided in step-down care so that hospitals have the capacity for other […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 28 April 2020 Excess deaths in care homes between the 30th of March (week 14) and the 19th of April were 9,600 – higher than the 9,400 in […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- For our more extensive analysis, please follow this link: https://www.edgehealth.co.uk/post/understanding-the-role-of-large-gatherings-on-the-nhs —- Published 27 April 2020 The need to end the brutal lockdown is getting stronger every day. We have published […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- This is a summary of our working paper on how to evolve lockdown (available here). We welcome feedback, which you can provide here, or via emailing [email protected]. —- Published […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- This is a working paper on how to evolve lockdown. A summary is available here. We welcome feedback, which you can provide here, or via emailing [email protected]. —- Published […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 24 April 2020 Air pollution led to around 30,000 premature deaths in 2013 and has presumably got worse since – until now. Mostly this is from Nitrogen oxides (NO, […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 23 April 2020 —- This is our working paper on the impact of Covid-19 on elective procedures in the NHS. As with […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 23 April 2020 Over a month ago, trusts were told to assume that they would “postpone all non-urgent elective operations from 15th April at […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 22 April 2020 Non-covid-19 health demands are down, but this can’t last without mortal consequences. As reassurances start to encourage people to […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 21 April 2020 Cumulative deaths in the UK due to Covid-19 were reported at 17,337 today. These are directly attributed to Covid-19, […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 20 April 2020 What is the impact of coronavirus on the ability to work and the economy? We surveyed over 1,500 people […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 17 April 2020 It is my first time visiting a hospital in over a month. It’s peaceful and not too busy, although […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 16 April 2020 The latest data on deaths from Covid-19 suggests we are past the peak in the UK. It is early […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 15 April 2020 As temperatures soared over the long bank holiday weekend, we surveyed over 1,500 people – you might have been […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 14 April 2020 During the week of the 3rd of April (week 14), ONS data released today suggest that excess deaths (compared to a […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 13 April 2020 One month ago, I wrote in the Telegraph that the NHS in England needed 7.5 times as many critical care beds […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 11 April 2020 What two things connect Singapore and Austria? They’ve started to end their lockdowns, and both require citizens to wear […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 9 April 2020 Do you know if a hospital near you is under a lot of pressure from Covid-19? If you did, […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Originally covered in HSJ on 9 April 2020 —- Peak covid-19 may be upon us with the number of new daily cases likely […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 7 April 2020 This weekend Watford General Hospital declared an emergency and told people to stay away due to a problem with […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 7 April 2020 Pending the next few days, peak Covid-19 should be conquered. Unfortunately, like many hills that you climb, you get to […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 6 April 2020 Sad and distressing news this evening that the PM Boris Johnson has been admitted to St Thomas’ ICU with […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 3 April 2020 On the 2nd of April we asked the question: “In exchange for lifting the blanket quarantine, would you be […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 2 April 2020 Peak Covid-19 is fast approaching, but how do we remove the lockdown once it has passed? The Government has […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 2 April 2020 No signs of a lock-down, but their population seems to be socially distancing anyway. They also have more capacity […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 1 April 2020 Last week we estimated the number of people infected with Covid-19 using deaths to approximate the actual number of people infected […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 31 March 2020 Q: How will we know when we have taken back control from Covid-19? A: “R0” (the rate of reproduction […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 30 March 2020 Yesterday the Telegraph published our estimations of how many people have the Covid-19 disease. We calculated that, as of […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 27 March 2020 Social distancing works, albeit with a lag. So hopefully some good news to end the week – data that […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 26 March 2020 It has been three days since 27 million people watched Boris Johnson’s address to the nation announcing strict curbs […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 25 March 2020 The HSJ has published sobering data on deaths. Somewhat clearly, it shows that deaths are higher per critical care […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 24 March 2020 Today was the first day following significant measures introduced by the Government to slow the spread of the Covid-19 […]
All of our analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is shared here – this includes our regional tracker. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Published 23 March 2020 The lack of social distancing seen in public this weekend suggests that the majority of people are not yet […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- The HSJ has reported that Northwick Park in London has declared a critical incident due to a surge in Covid-19 patients and no critical care bed capacity. […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Our regional analysis for the HSJ on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS got widely covered in the media today. It shows that infections are currently […]
This is a short summary of the media coverage of our work on the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS. For any enquiries please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- 1. Hospitals Could need 7.5 times the number of critical care beds to treat virus patients – The Telegraph (15/03/20), George Batchelor https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/hospitals-could-need-75-times-number-critical-care-beds-treat/ “In […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Important note: this analysis was undertaken prior to publication on the 18 of March 2020 and based on projections on the growth of the spread of Covid-19 […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Our analysis predicts that there will be an additional 3,500 reported cases of Covid-19 in England by Monday – much of this will translate into similar levels […]
This is our live blog post on our independent modelling of the potential impact of COVID-19 on the NHS. We are planning to update this as more data become available and as our understanding improves. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback in general, please contact George at [email protected] or 07980804956. Other posts on […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Over 400 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed today in the UK. As the new testing strategy is to “focus on identifying people with the virus in […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Important note: this analysis was undertaken on the 16 of March 2020 and based on projections on the growth of the spread of Covid-19 prior to Government […]
Comment by George Batchelor in The Telegraph 15 March 2020 The data tell us that COVID-19 is spreading exponentially. The number of confirmed cases in the UK has increased from 36 on 1 March to 1140 on Saturday – a daily growth rate of 119 per cent. If this pattern continues, the number of confirmed […]
This is our live blog post on our independent modelling of the potential impact of COVID-19 on the NHS. This is the version from 15 March 2020. An updated version can be found here. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback in general, please contact George at [email protected] or 07980804956. —- Last updated on […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- We must consider measures to reduce the demand that will be placed on the NHS as a result of Covid-19. This should include (i) measures to reduce […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- The growth rate of infection of Covid-19 has increased from 1.17 to 1.2 in the last day with 134 new cases confirmed. So the Government has advised […]
Following on from earlier analysis we have modelled additional scenarios for Covid-19. In summary: The current growth of COVID19 is exponential in the UK at a rate of 1.17 per day – this is slightly less than Italy, but because the growth is exponential the number of cases will start to rise sharply if there […]
We are publishing a regular update to our work on Covid-19. Other posts can be found here. For further information please contact George on 07980804956 or [email protected] —- Reported Covid-19 cases are now rising sharply in the UK. It remains unclear how many people may become infected in total, although we estimate there could be […]
Edge Health UK has been recognised by the Financial Times as a leading firm in healthcare consulting in 2020. This is based on recommendations from clients and other firms. George Batchelor, Director: “We are elated that Edge Health UK has been recognised by the Financial Times. So much thanks to our wonderful clients and the […]
Over 2 million people are living with sight loss in the UK, 34,000 of these are living in North Central London. Over the next 16 years, this is set to increase by 50% due to an ageing and growing population. In North Central London, this growth is equivalent to serving the current demand in Birmingham. […]
CanTrack, a new platform, helps hospitals meet national targets by streamlining data and communication for cancer teams. Learn how CanTrack tackles bottlenecks and empowers better patient care.
In 2018, NHS hospitals spent over £400m on Adalimumab, a biological medicine used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. This level of spend made it the single medicine on which the NHS spent the most money. In October 2018, the UK patent for the originator Adalimumab product expired and biosimilar alternatives became […]
We were at the Healthcare Excellence Through Technology show last week, and it was great to see so much interest in all of the innovators that were part of the AHSN Network’s Innovation Exchange. At Edge Health, we have been work closely with providers and commissioners to become more efficient by using their data better. We had the opportunity […]
“What many people don’t see if that AI is already part of the NHS… AI and other smart platforms are already helping us improve the services we deliver for the NHS, and ultimately, the individual’s patient experience” – fantastic coverage in The Mail on Sunday, featuring the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator and Edge Health! Read on! ”AI […]
In July 2019, the Kent Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network undertook an evaluation at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital on the impact of SpaceFinder – a tool developed by Edge Health to improve hospital operating theatre productivity. They found that SpaceFinder delivered: 13.3% increase in surgical procedures per list 3.1% reduction in theatre […]
Press release: Edge Health joins cohort 4 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator Edge Health is proud to announce that it joins cohort 4 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme. The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator is a programme aimed at speeding up the development and scaling of digital innovations across health and care and pioneer their adoption by the NHS. […]
Working closely with an NHS client, Edge Health developed a strategic roadmap and detailed vision for the future of their analytics function. This will help to develop an analytics team that is identifying, driving, and monitoring delivery of procurement savings across the NHS, rather than just performing ad-hoc analytics. This represents a shift from being […]
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) has been levied on health insurance since 1995. The rate of IPT has increased from an initial rate of 2.5% of premiums and is currently 12%. This is a significant addition to private medical insurance (PMI) premiums. IPT has the potential to influence choices make by individuals and employers about their […]
Confidence Intervals for Small Samples Overview We are often concerned about the high level of accuracy in the data we manage and share. We live in a world of big data, where much of the focus is on interpreting complex data through the use of artificial intelligence. Although, in many real-world situations, information is limited, […]
Working with the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, Edge Health led the analytical work that helped understand the nature and scale of variation in the provision of spinal surgery. These findings, which are discussed in detail in the national report, were endorsed by the United Kingdom Spine Societies Board; British Association of Spine […]
Working in collaboration with the NHS, Edge Health developed and piloted a novel methodology for tracking indicators on the impact of cancer transformation funding on early diagnosis, impact and expected survival rates. The aim of the pilot was to develop a framework to rapidly evaluate the benefit of transformation funding on cancer outcomes. For cancer […]
We recently sat down to talk with Jennifer, analyst at Edge Health to find out about her experience as a woman in the health-tech space – read on! How did you end up in a Health Data Analyst role? Is Healthcare a passion of yours? ”I have always had an interest in healthcare – my […]
With the emergence of promising new technologies and a flood of data, healthcare innovators face a new set of opportunities and challenges. These will define the next decade of operational efficiency in healthcare delivery. Our event ‘’Taking the pAIn out of AI’’ in collaboration with IET and WAI, looked at how the brilliant minds of […]
Find out more HERE: With the emergence of promising new technologies, a flood of data and increasing operational pressures, healthcare innovators face a new set of opportunities and challenges for moving from theory to practice and beyond. These will define the next decade of operational efficiency in healthcare delivery. Taking the pAIn out of AI […]
I know the NHS takes steps to protect my data, these often hold back its ability to learn from my data. This means the care I may need in the future will not be as good as it could be and will cost more. Perhaps more worryingly, the current energy and enthusiasm for technology mean […]
From smoking through to late diagnoses of cancer, understanding population health is critical to delivering better healthcare and reducing demand pressure on hospitals. The new GP contract recognises this and links improvements to funding for general practices working through Primary Care Networks (PCNs). Surrey Heartlands were quick to recognise the importance of understanding population health, […]
Our software, Space Finder, has been shortlisted for the HSJ workforce efficiency award. Many hospitals are not delivering planned care activity to plan. This is impacting their patients, who are waiting longer, their performance (RTT), and their finances. It also means that workforce is stretched further as theatres need to be operated for longer. Increasing […]
First announced in the NHS’s Long Term Plan, and for the first time in the NHS history, funding for primary care is guaranteed to grow more quickly than overall NHS funding. The LTP is not quiet on why this funding is needed: “Community health services and general practice face multiple challenges – with insufficient staff […]
Jon’s adventures at Edge Health started a year ago, and it has proven to be one of a kind! Prior to joining Edge Health, Jon had worked on a number of projects with future co-founders, Ed and George. When they asked him to join the team at Edge, Jon could not turn down the opportunity […]
Over the next five years funding for the NHS will increase by 3.4%, compared to a historical 5-year average of 2.2% (see long-term plan). But productivity growth remains as important as ever: one of the challenges set out in the Long-Term plan, is for the NHS to make productivity gains of at least 1.1% per […]
In England alone, there are 30 children hospitals who specialise in providing care for many thousands of seriously ill children each year. There are also many more hospitals that also look after children generally. And there are millions of homes. Even if Santa and his reindeer only visited the specialist hospitals, he would have a […]
Our first chapter on ‘How to implement a software successfully’ focused on People’, this article focuses on technology and processes. From setting expectations through to implementation: Build a Purpose – Is there a widespread sense that something needs to change? On theatre or outpatient clinic use, do teams recognise that there is avoidable downtime or […]
Edge Health worked with the Northumbria Foundation Group Acute Care Collaboration (ACC) Vanguard to provide an evaluation of the activities they had undertaken over the previous two years of funding, and recommendations for the future. Throughout 2015 a total of 50 ‘vanguards’ were chosen by NHS England to lead on the development of new models […]
Fantastic event this week ‘Think Big Future Health & Life Sciences’ event focused on Medical Devices + Data organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Starting the important discussion around software as medical device, data ownership and competition, together with the Eastern Academic Health Science Network (Eastern AHSN) and MedCity. We were excited […]
Short summary: Working with a large acute London Trust, we have developed a software to help develop and refine their new theatre schedule. This is needed as the Trust is in the process of a large capital project that will create a new theatre complex and allow the consolidation of specialties, which are currently spread […]
Over the course of 2018 Edge Health evaluated the activity and impact of the National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA). The outputs of this evaluation were used to inform future behaviours and establish strategy moving forward. Throughout 2015 a total of 50 ‘vanguards’ were chosen by NHS England to lead on the development of new models of […]
Originally published by Reform on 29th October 2018. Putting the needs of the patient at the forefront of decision making by hospital executives is hard – there’s a lot going on and the decision to do something for someone can come at a cost to someone else. Everyone has their own explanation of why delays […]
How often have we heard that some new technology is ready to be implemented? Systems have been checked, user acceptance has been looked into and the environment is ready to deploy! Yet, capabilities have barely been understood, workflow streams are not in place and new roles and responsibilities have not been suitably discussed. This situation […]
Many hospitals are not delivering planned care activity to plan. This is impacting their patients, who are waiting longer, their performance (RTT), and their finances. At the same time, core capacity is being underutilised. Increasing throughput in core hours is hard and often runs into resistance: “theatres are busier than ever”, “case-mix is more complex”, […]
Edge Health has been very excited to participate and speak at the NHSR community Conference held in Birmingham, this year. The presentation mainly covered the use of R and Shiny to support operational improvements in hospitals. The NHS-R community aims to support the learning, application, and promoting the use of R in the NHS through […]
Once upon a time, buying software was a one-off purchase. A bit like buying a music single. The advantage of absolute certainty of cost outweighed bugs and other issues. But in today’s world, as software is becoming more sophisticated, many companies are moving towards subscription models supported by rapid improvements, developments and fixes – often […]
Working in collaboration with the NHS, Edge Health developed and piloted a novel methodology for tracking indicators on the impact of cancer transformation funding on early diagnosis and expected survival rates. The aim of the pilot was to develop a framework to rapidly evaluate the benefit of transformation funding on cancer outcomes. For cancer this […]
When building products and designing software interfaces there are broadly two main schools of thought on how much to involve customers in the design process. 1. The first one is designing the product mostly yourself as customers often do not quite know what they really want. 2. The other is involving customers deeply in the […]
On 12th September, our CTO Christian Moroy presented at the EARL conference in London. The Enterprise Applications of the R Language Conference (EARL) is a cross-sector conference focusing on the commercial use of the R programming language. The conference is dedicated to the real-world usage of R with some of the world’s leading practitioners. Plus, […]
Edge Health has been featured in the AHSN network’s ‘state of the nation’ report on the use of AI in health and care. The AHSN Network represents 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) across England that were established in 2013 to spread innovation at pace and scale. In September this year, the ASHN published its […]
Hi Roberto ! Could you tell us a bit about yourself? I was born in Venezuela and grew up on Spain. I studied Biochemistry and had a big interest in Microbiology. One thing led to another, I moved to London to do a Masters in Molecular Virology at Imperial College. After that, I had an […]
Edge Health was asked to provide urgent support to an acute hospital assessing the options for its future viability ahead of a critical meeting with NHS Improvement and NHS England. The hospital in the northwest of England had seen a significant deterioration in its financial position and was asked by the regulators to work with […]
Truly honoured that Edge Health has been invited to sponsor the Doctor Award at the 2018 WellChild Awards. An amazing charity, helping over 100,00 #NHS #WellChild #featured
As AI research is making it mainstream there is a trend emerging in healthcare: hospitals are focusing on digital infrastructure and AI start-ups on improved diagnosis and delivery of care. As hospitals are resource constrained and struggle with more elderly patients and chronic illnesses however there is a crucial third dimension that is neglected: AI […]
Over the past year we have been working with South Tees NHS Foundation Trust to build Space Finder, an AI-powered tool to create optimal surgical lists and improve theatre utilisation. Using Space Finder, South Tees have been able to increase productivity by 60 cases per week and switch off weekend working. Hear how on this […]
Bed Planner is a planning tool to help hospital managers plan bed capacity, so that it is closely aligned to demand. This helps with the flow of patients through a hospital environment, by identifying potential bottlenecks. By using routinely collected data, Bed Planner allows historic bed occupancy to be forensically modelled and decomposed. When this […]
Optimise theatre lists, so that you increase the productivity of your theatres during core hours. Do this with Space Finder, which uses your data with real-time machine learning technology to propose optimal operating lists that make the best use of available theatre time. #featured #NHS #ai
Edge Health developed an interactive demand and capacity model for a Cancer Alliance, which allows for the easy modelling and comparison of different supply scenarios for linear accelerator capacity in the region. The tool allows the user to model cancer site-specific treatment pathways, underlying demand growth, working patterns for the linear accelerator machines and the […]
Faced with increasing demand for theatres with fixed capacity, Edge Health undertook a diagnostic of a hospital’s theatre utilisation and productivity. We used a variety of innovative diagnostic tools to identify blocks of free theatre space, analyse rates of surgery completion and investigate instances of cancellation and non-attendance. We also simulated the impact of extending […]
Our recent blog, Can’t See the Ward for the Trees, highlighted the declining NHS bed numbers, and in Don’t Pack Your Pyjamas we looked at how many acute beds are occupied by patients that at first sight do not have acute needs. Now we look at how hospital consultants work together and the impact this […]
Our recent blog, Can’t See the Ward for the Trees, discussed the recent headlines about declining NHS bed numbers. The headline masks a more complicated reality: everyone working in the NHS knows that acute beds are under more pressure than ever before. Beds may be running at unsustainable levels of occupancy, but this does not […]
What does a good use of a hospital theatre look like? We don’t want surgeons and their teams to work all hours, or stay behind late to get through more work? But nor do we want to see hospital theatres waste two hours a day – a staggering 5,500 operations missed each day in England. […]
In 2017, Edge Health developed a prediction tool for critical care bed occupancy at a digital exemplar Foundation Trust. The prediction tool employed a range of statistical, econometric and machine learning techniques based on patient-level demographic, co-morbidity and procedural data. Our work enabled the hospital to predict bed occupancy and “spikes” in demand with a […]
There is nothing quite as unifying for a local community than the loss of beds at the local hospital. So it is not surprising that research published by the King’s Fund, which showed that the number of hospital beds in England have more than halved in the past 30 years, caught the headlines last week. […]
A major tertiary hospital was faced with the challenge of rising waiting times for orthopaedic surgery. Edge Health worked with them tackle this. Our analysis found that theatre utilisation was below 75%, partly due to an ineffective scheduling process that often under/over booked session lists. Deploying our artificial intelligence solution onto the hospital systems, we […]
A Surrey based hospital needed a detailed understanding of the demands it would face in the future and the implications for its capacity requirements; it asked Edge Health to help them get it. Edge Health built a model using detailed data (hour by hour, by patient) to support reconfiguration planning and we worked with the […]
We helped our client – a 700 bed acute NHS Trust – to understand demand and capacity along the surgical pathway. We estimated demand by specialty and compared this with measurements of the core capacity that is available by specialty. This was used as a baseline to then investigate how well the core capacity is […]
When Edge Health was asked in July 2017 to support an NHS Trust that had entered special measures in 2015, there was no consistent or clear view on what needed to be done to improve their RTT position. We offered to help them create a single, agreed analysis of their planned care demand and capacity […]
A major London hospital already had plans for a bed re-configuration but before proceeding, they required evidence based clinical buy-in, which could only be fully achieved through the use of detailed simulation modelling. After all, this is one of the busiest hospitals in London, they – and we – had to get it right. Our […]
Amid the headlines of staff shortages, hospital deficits, overwhelmed A&E, and a lack of social care leaving people unable to leave hospital, it is hard to ignore the NHS crisis. And according to the Health Foundation, the NHS funding commitments from all three political parties are inadequate. Demand pressures from a growing and ageing population, […]
Edge Health provided bed strategy analytical support to a Foundation Trust hospital as it embarked on a major reconfiguration. Changes were being driven by commissioner’s plans to reduce community bed capacity and the need to deliver a c.£2m CIP. We regularly met with clinical and operational staff from across the hospital to understand the challenges […]
Not long ago, as I was presenting some findings from our work, one of the hospital executive said to me “do we really do that many outpatient appointments each day”? This followed a series of other “do we really do that” questions during the presentation, which had covered a range of areas from length of […]
Netflix analyses millions of data points to makes the best movie recommendations. Amazon uses its gigantic data network to get goods to you quickly. Google indexes the entire internet to help you find search results in milliseconds. What about the NHS? How much data does your GP collect to give you the best advice? How […]
So, according to a recent report from PwC, 66% of people in the Middle East are willing to replace human doctors with AI and robots. But many others have warned of the dangers from AI. Elon Musk, the tech billionaire behind reusable space rockets and self-driving cars, has set up a “billion dollar fund” to […]
The Formula 1 season began at pace this weekend. With all the excitement of watching fast cars hurry to the finishing line, it may surprise people to know that each season a F1 team make improvements that can help shave over two seconds off of a lap time. This can mean the difference between 1st […]
Providers and commissioners of health care have in recent years explored opportunities for new forms of contract that are designed to help align incentives and manage cost more effectively. These contracts move away from traditional models for funding NHS services, such as activity based PbR, and move towards capitated payment models that are linked to […]
In what is called the Internet of Things, physical devices are becoming smart. These technologies will drive what is being called the fourth industrial revolutions. If you have any doubt that this will happen the following video may start to persuade you: It’s a video demonstrating a voice activated computer that I put together. The […]
One year ago, NHS Improvement declared war on agency staff spending and introduced price caps. Here is my original blog on the proposal – in summary: I did not think they would work or be effective. It generated a lot of interest, mainly from people directly affected by the proposed caps. One year on: NHS […]
The NHS deficit in 2015/16 was £1.85bn, so it is understandable why there is pressure to improve finances. Many of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) being developed involve projected savings from the closure of hospital beds. The following post outlines why these saving opportunities can be vacuous unless the economics behind them is taken […]
The BBC has reported the NHS is facing its biggest crisis to date. Within the first three hours there were over 1,000 comments. Increasing delays in ambulance targets, increases in missed A&E targets, increase in people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment… The NHS is facing a challenging time, but will probably get through […]
The discount rate used to calculate clinical negligence claims has been chopped from 2.5% to -0.75%. A huge change that will cost the NHS c.£1bn extra each year. When a hospital trust is negligent, a payment is made – often as a lump sum to the patient. This might be because a patient contracted MRSA […]
Edge Health was commissioned by a CCG to help them implement the recommendations from their RightCare analysis and accompanying QIPP programme. We focused on three areas: complex patients, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and community gynaecology. We used patient-level data and advanced analytics, including our Pathway Miner methodology and Wordscraping (which analyses data within clinical letters), […]
This project was completed for a large acute NHS Trust. The Trust’s bed base was not being used effectively and it needed to reconfigure the number and location of beds to improve efficiency. Edge Health’s team undertook analysis of patient level data to gain a comprehensive understanding of the use of all beds across the […]
Edge Health were asked to help develop strategic options for the future of an NHS Foundation Trust’s estate given changes being proposed in the health economy. This was driven in part by proposals in the local STP that identified a need to consolidate services in the local area. Our work helped the NHS Foundation Trust […]
Too often, patient pathways of care become convoluted and inefficient, frustrating patients and carers in the process. Edge Health supported a health system to identify these inefficiencies and create better outcomes for the local population. We worked in partnership with the acute care provider, local GPs and other stakeholders to develop algorithms which identified patients […]
CCGs purchase health care services from both NHS providers and independent health care organisations. Each year the regulator, NHS Improvement (previously Monitor) sets a basket of tariffs, which are effectively a series of fixed prices for specific treatments. The question facing a CCG that the Edge Health team supported was whether to pay its independent […]
The Better Care Fund was introduced to help streamline and integrate the delivery of services leading to improved care and reduced costs. But in some areas, these benefits have not been delivered as expected and this has led to disputes between CCGs and local authorities. In one case, a group of CCGs and a local […]
Despite 88% of the doctors and nurses that responded to the consultation opposing the introduction of price caps on agency staff, Monitor and the TDA are introducing their new rules and price caps for agency staff starting today (23rd November 2015). While 79% of Trusts are planning to cut agency fees, the approach being taken […]
Monitor and the TDA have just published a consultation on a proposal to introduce price caps on agency staff working in the NHS. This follows weeks of news about dire NHS hospital finances and growing agency staff bills. Sadly, a price cap on agency staff won’t improve the situation and may even make it worse […]
Members of Edge Health’s team were commissioned by an acute provider to undertake a short diagnostic analysis using our ‘Caring with Data’ methodology. This methodology takes patient level data to build a diagnostic tool of the key issues affecting flow and capacity within a hospital. The analysis was presented to members of the hospital’s executive […]