Edge Health

10 Sep 2024 • 2 minutes

Engineering Showcase: Transforming Surgical Data Management for Enhanced Patient Care

Introduction: Comprehensive data collection of surgical data A healthcare organisation has been undertaking a widespread data collection initiative, gathering information on surgery activities in numerous hospitals. This data is collected routinely, analysed, and benchmarked against various indicators to facilitate improvements in surgical care and efficiency in healthcare facilities. Facing the challenge of increasing data volume […]

05 Sep 2024 • 2 minutes

LLMs to Augment Medical Data: A Proof Of Concept

Advancements in machine learning have led to the rise of pre-trained Large-Language Models (LLMs) that can be used to interpret, understand, and process medical data. As a demonstration of this technology, we have built a proof-of-concept (POC) tool that transforms unstructured and doctors’ notes and chest x-rays into a structured database. What is the opportunity […]

22 Aug 2024 • 3 minutes

AI in Dermatology: a White Paper by Edge Health for NHSE

The Context The NHS is currently grappling with a growing demand for Dermatology. Waiting lists have grown by 82% since 2021, and the rate of GP referrals for skin cancer having nearly doubled in the last decade. This is compounded by a national shortfall in dermatologists as vacancies in 2021 amounted to 159 WTE. Our […]

22 Jul 2024 • 2 minutes

Six Actions for Improving Early Cancer Diagnosis

Edge Health’s research with RMP identifies six key actions for primary care to improve early cancer diagnosis rates.

16 Jul 2024 • 2 minutes

Fit for the Future: Demand and Capacity Planning for the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance

Edge Health helped Thames Valley Cancer Alliance tackle growing SACT demand with data-driven analysis and innovative solutions for improved cancer treatment delivery.

20 Jun 2024 • 3 minutes

Levelling-Up Cancer Patient Management with Data Engineering

Data engineering is revolutionising cancer patient management, with a focus on Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and cancer alliances.

22 May 2024 • 2 minutes

Waiting List Modelling: Effectively Achieve Elective Targets

Edge Health partnered with LLR Integrated Care Board to tackle post-COVID elective treatment backlogs using advanced modelling techniques.

13 May 2024 • 2 minutes

Streamlining Automated Patient Alerts and Data Access with Azure

We developed a data engineering solution linking radiology data to Azure, generating automatic alerts in Slack.

26 Mar 2024 • 4 minutes

SPaedIT: Bridging the Gap in Paediatric Health Data Post-Pandemic

Edge Health partnered with the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme to develop SPaedIT, a comprehensive analytical tool that addresses the data gap in paediatric care, offering insights across eight key surgical specialties and empowering NHS providers to make informed decisions about children’s healthcare services.

19 Mar 2024 • 2 minutes

The Value of Clinical Homecare to the NHS, Patients and Society

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 […]

16 Feb 2024 • 3 minutes

Addressing NHS Waiting Times Through Patient-Initiated Pathways

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 […]

05 Feb 2024 • 4 minutes

Evaluating AI Implementation in the NHS: Skin Analytics AI-powered Teledermatology

Edge Health’s evaluation of an AI-powered teledermatology pilot at University Hospitals of Leicester revealed its potential to enhance patient access to dermatology services, with scenario modelling suggesting significant future cost savings across the Midlands.

26 Jan 2024 • 3 minutes

A Data-driven Approach to Planning Radiotherapy Workforce Requirements

Edge Health partnered with Dearden HR to develop a data-driven approach for planning radiotherapy workforce requirements for the West London Surrey & Sussex Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network, combining demand modelling, workforce analysis, and innovative strategies to address future staffing needs.

18 Dec 2023 • 2 minutes

Developing a System Intelligence Specification in South East London

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 […]

18 Sep 2023 • 3 minutes

Routine orthopaedic procedures are more complex than ever before in the NHS

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 […]

17 Jul 2023 • 4 minutes

Case Study: Evaluation of the Mental Health Urgent Assessment Centre at LPFT

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 […]

10 Jul 2023 • 2 minutes

Case study: Evaluating the benefits of integrating chemotherapy patient management apps

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 […]

03 Jul 2023 • 3 minutes

“How many beds?”: Enhancing planning with bed requirement simulations

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 […]

08 Jun 2023 • 4 minutes

Imaging Productivity: Harnessing RIS data to meet reporting targets

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 […]

01 Jun 2023 • 4 minutes

Improving Cancer Outcomes – Why ICSs Must Tackle Health Inequalities

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 […]

25 May 2023 • 2 minutes

Elevating Performance and Driving Clinical Excellence: the Discharge Pathways Model Analytical Tool

Edge Health developed the Discharge Pathways Model Analytical Tool for NHSEI, a comprehensive platform that enables NHS systems to benchmark performance, identify best practices, and model scenarios for improved patient flow between secondary and community care, addressing critical questions and supporting effective planning.

18 May 2023 • 4 minutes

Why We Need to Start Unlocking Change Using Cancer Data Now

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 […]

04 May 2023 • 3 minutes

Data Engineering as the Backbone of Modern Healthcare Analytics: Experience from Our Work in the NHS

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.

27 Apr 2023 • 2 minutes

National Theatre Data Analysis For D&C Modelling

Edge Health collaborated with GIRFT and NHSE to develop a robust national theatre data analysis system, supporting elective recovery and hub-based working by collecting, engineering, and analysing data from 110 providers and 39 systems, resulting in insights that have informed new funding models and advanced roll-out of efficiency measures across the country.

20 Apr 2023 • 2 minutes

A Proactive Solution to Bed Configurations: Using Simulation to Challenge Narratives

Edge Health developed an interactive simulation tool for a large specialist Trust, enabling proactive bed configuration planning and challenging existing narratives on bed requirements through data-driven insights.

14 Apr 2023 • 3 minutes

The NHS’ Balancing Act: Prioritising Urgent Cases While Tackling the Elective Backlog

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. […]

06 Apr 2023 • 2 minutes

Elective Recovery: understanding targets and finding opportunities to increase activity

Edge Health helped a London specialist provider understand and address elective recovery targets by analysing valued activity, identifying key challenges like increased patient complexity and staffing issues, and proposing actionable recommendations to boost elective activity.

28 Mar 2023 • 2 minutes

Quantifying the private market: an opportunity for NHS trusts

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 […]

21 Mar 2023 • 1 minute

Supporting AGEM with their Business Intelligence function

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 […]

17 Mar 2023 • 2 minutes

Supporting Vitacam to develop their health economic proposition

Edge Health conducted a health economic evaluation of Vitacam, an atrial fibrillation screening technology, developing an adjustable model to demonstrate its potential cost-effectiveness in various scenarios, providing valuable insights for future research and clinical trials

16 Mar 2023 • 5 minutes

The Data-Driven Approach: Strategies for Understanding Inequality in Paediatric A&E attendances

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.

08 Mar 2023 • 9 minutes

Celebrating Women at Edge on IWD!

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.

01 Mar 2023 • 1 minute

Edge Health at Six

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.

01 Feb 2023 • 4 minutes

Solving the Emergency: Improving Ambulance Response Times through Strategic Planning

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 […]

24 Jan 2023 • 1 minute

NHS Planning Guidance ICB dashboard: six metrics, one glance

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 […]

19 Jan 2023 • 3 minutes

Speeding up cancer diagnosis: how to break the 28-day barrier

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 […]

15 Dec 2022 • 2 minutes

10% fewer GPs, record high appointments: how remote consultations are transforming healthcare

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 […]

06 Dec 2022 • 5 minutes

Driving data quality improvements to support elective recovery

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 […]

02 Dec 2022 • 3 minutes

Why more patients than ever before are missing NHS cancer waiting times targets

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 […]

24 Nov 2022 • 3 minutes

Technology can’t replace GPs (yet), but it can save them time

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 […]

21 Nov 2022 • 3 minutes

Transforming patient experience into valuable insights

Edge Health partnered with a charity-run social network for people with long-term conditions to analyse complex textual data from over 40,000 users, revealing valuable insights into user preferences, treatment discussions, and real-world events, which can help pharmaceutical companies better understand patient needs and optimize product development.

17 Nov 2022 • 2 minutes

Building best practice in Continuing Healthcare Assessments

Edge Health, commissioned through GIRFT, conducted a comprehensive review of Continuing Healthcare Assessments, analyzing CCG performance and interviewing 17 CCGs to identify best practices and provide recommendations for improving the assessment process, including pre-screening, trusted assessor models, and digital opportunities.

16 Nov 2022 • 5 minutes

Closing the GP workforce gap: not all about GPs

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 […]

14 Nov 2022 • 2 minutes

Optimizing diagnosis pathways for ADHD clinics in Canada

Edge Health conducted an independent review of an ADHD diagnostic pathway for a Canadian community healthcare provider, identifying opportunities for a 13% efficiency improvement through data analysis and collaborative engagement with practice staff, potentially saving 25 hours of clinician time per 100 new diagnoses.

10 Nov 2022 • 2 minutes

Comprehensive review of Tier 3 & Tier 4 Weight Management Services

Edge Health conducted a comprehensive review of Tier 3 and Tier 4 Weight Management Services in England, revealing significant variations in service provision and the impact of Covid-19, while providing regional reports with recommendations for implementing best practices and improving access to care.

09 Nov 2022 • 6 minutes

Three zero cost solutions for retaining more GPs than are trained each year

– 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 […]

04 Nov 2022 • 3 minutes

Demonstrating the value of elective orthopaedic hubs at the NOA awards

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 […]

02 Nov 2022 • 5 minutes

Could 50 additional GP training places per year be enough to sustain primary care?

– 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 […]

25 Oct 2022 • 2 minutes

Forecasting demand for services in secondary care

Edge Health developed a 10-year national and system-level forecast of demand for secondary care in Ophthalmology, Cardiology, and Musculoskeletal services, using machine learning techniques to create publicly available dashboards that help stakeholders understand future volumes and plan effective care delivery.

25 Oct 2022 • 3 minutes

We could save £700million in primary care in 2032 by taking decisive action on obesity and diabetes

– 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 […]

18 Oct 2022 • 2 minutes

How many more GPs we need in 10 years, and what we need to do now

Edge Health estimates that by 2032, the UK will need 39,000 fully-qualified full-time equivalent GPs to meet growing demand, and proposes five actionable steps to address this gap, including public health strategies, workforce retention, and innovative approaches to healthcare delivery

13 Oct 2022 • 2 minutes

Analytical support to the Getting It Right First Time programme

Edge Health has partnered with the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme since 2018, providing crucial analytical support to develop benchmarking reports across multiple specialties, enabling peer-to-peer improvement conversations and contributing to £1.2 billion in efficiency gains for the NHS by early 2020.

03 Oct 2022 • 2 minutes

Capturing consultant outcomes across the NHS

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) […]

17 Aug 2022 • 2 minutes

Quantifying the socio-economic impact of changing access to an over-the-counter medicine

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 […]

11 Aug 2022 • 2 minutes

Driving quality improvement in Stroke Centres

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 […]

09 Aug 2022 • 2 minutes

Focus on outcomes: piloting the collection of outcome data for Occupational Health

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 […]

13 Jul 2022 • 2 minutes

System-wide Cancer Pathway Management – CanCollaborate, a tool to monitor and risk-assess PTLs

Edge Health developed CanCollaborate, a system-wide tool that allows Trusts and Cancer Alliances to monitor and risk-assess cancer patient tracking lists across multiple hospitals, enabling proactive management of complex pathways, reducing administrative time, and improving patient outcomes by facilitating joint working and early interventions.

13 Jun 2022 • 2 minutes

Targeting Mental Health inequalities in NW London – supporting data-informed system collaboration

A consortium led by WHi, with Edge Health leading analytics, conducted a data-driven strategic review of mental health services for North West London ICS, identifying areas of unmet need and unwarranted variation, resulting in six agreed system-wide actions to address inequalities and improve core service offerings.

28 Apr 2022 • 1 minute

Procurement Cost Saving Analysis

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 […]

27 Apr 2022 • 2 minutes

Evaluation of Eye Care Electronic Referral Systems

Edge Health evaluated a pilot Eye Care Electronic Referral System (EeRS) at its 6-month stage, revealing potential benefits in streamlining patient pathways and resource allocation, despite limited initial quantitative gains, and providing key insights for future implementations

25 Apr 2022 • 2 minutes

A health economic evaluation of Minder

Edge Health conducted a health economic evaluation of Minder, a remote care platform for dementia patients, demonstrating its potential value and return on investment for local populations and health systems across England.

12 Apr 2022 • 2 minutes

Case-mix adjustment of NHS patient outcomes

Edge health supported a large NHS programme in the development of an approach to risk adjusting surgical outcome data.

24 Mar 2022 • 2 minutes

Best Consultancy Partnership with the NHS

Kaleidoscope Health and Care, Edge Health, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough STP won the Best Consultancy Partnership with the NHS category at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2022 for their collaborative work in establishing digital diabetes care services, which improved performance in primary care networks and extended care to over 400 additional patients.

24 Feb 2022 • 1 minute

Study: Impact of travel restrictions on omicron in Europe

Posted 24/02/2022

02 Feb 2022 • 2 minutes

International travel restrictions during COVID – Reopening the skies

Edge Health, in collaboration with Oxera, provided crucial evidence-based support to the aviation sector and governments worldwide, leading to the removal of ineffective COVID-19 travel restrictions in the UK and influencing similar policy changes globally.

02 Feb 2022 • 19 minutes

Press coverage: lifting travel restrictions in Europe 2022

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 […]

06 Jan 2022 • 26 minutes

Press coverage: lifting travel restrictions in the UK 2022

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 […]

05 Jan 2022 • 3 minutes

Study: Impact of travel restrictions on omicron in the UK

A study by Oxera and Edge Health, commissioned by Manchester Airports Group, found that travel restrictions had minimal impact on the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK once it became highly prevalent domestically, suggesting that future travel restrictions for new variants are unlikely to significantly alter infection trajectories.

14 Dec 2021 • 2 minutes

Omicron and the NHS

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, […]

26 Oct 2021 • 3 minutes

The NHS backlog as of August 2021

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 […]

14 Sep 2021 • 3 minutes

Outpatient video consultations in secondary care

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 […]

12 Sep 2021 • 3 minutes

Outpatient video consultations report – press release

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 […]

06 Sep 2021 • 1 minute

Specialist cancer nurse modelling for Macmillan

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 […]

26 Jul 2021 • 2 minutes

Saved by the whistle or the bell?

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 […]

13 Jul 2021 • 2 minutes

Freedom Day

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 […]

30 Jun 2021 • 2 minutes

Developing Metrics to Support the Growth of the Occupational Health Market

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 […]

17 May 2021 • 3 minutes

Vaccines and variants in Bolton

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 […]

13 Apr 2021 • 4 minutes

The variant of concern

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 […]

31 Mar 2021 • 3 minutes

Study: Evidence from testing trials show testing can help restart travel

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 […]

30 Mar 2021 • 4 minutes

Study: Safe list could be more than doubled with no increase in risk, due to UK vaccinations

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 […]

29 Mar 2021 • 4 minutes

Study: International travel could safely reopen through adoption of high-performing rapid tests

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 […]

25 Mar 2021 • 4 minutes

Study: Single COVID-19 test on arrival as effective as ten-day quarantine

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 […]

25 Feb 2021 • 3 minutes

The roadmap should be transparently and explicitly linked to data

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 […]

16 Feb 2021 • 4 minutes

What’s next for the NHS?

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 […]

15 Feb 2021 • 2 minutes

Injecting some positivity

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. […]

14 Feb 2021 • 2 minutes

Edge Health at Four – Our Impact

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

21 Jan 2021 • 2 minutes

When will we see the effect of the vaccination programme?

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 […]

11 Jan 2021 • 3 minutes

As many as 1 in 5 people in England have had the Covid-19 disease

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 […]

11 Jan 2021 • 2 minutes

How many people have had Covid-19?

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 […]

06 Jan 2021 • 3 minutes

The last lockdown?

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. […]

19 Dec 2020 • 1 minute

Increasing cases before Christmas

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 […]

19 Dec 2020 • 2 minutes

Covid-19 vs Christmas-20

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 […]

01 Dec 2020 • 3 minutes

Press coverage: travel testing evidence 2020

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 […]

30 Nov 2020 • 1 minute

Policy impact: England introduces testing strategy for international arrivals

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 […]

27 Nov 2020 • 6 minutes

COVID-19 Vaccine: Needles to the rescue?

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 […]

17 Nov 2020 • 3 minutes

How well is lockdown 2.0 working so far?

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 […]

10 Nov 2020 • 7 minutes

Study: Passenger testing on arrival is twice as effective as 14-day quarantine

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 […]

09 Nov 2020 • 2 minutes

Reasons to be cautiously optimistic about vaccinations

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, […]

03 Nov 2020 • 5 minutes

Study: Review of case studies of effectiveness of testing schemes

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 […]

02 Nov 2020 • 3 minutes

Lockdown – how long could it last?

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 […]

30 Oct 2020 • 2 minutes

What can we learn from Liverpool’s lockdown?

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 […]

22 Oct 2020 • 1 minute

Understanding the second wave

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 […]

21 Oct 2020 • 2 minutes

Press coverage: Edge Health’s work on air passenger testing 2020

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 […]

20 Oct 2020 • 3 minutes

Op-ed: The Government’s over reliance on misleading modelling is holding back airport testing

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 […]

20 Oct 2020 • 6 minutes

Study: UK government significantly underestimating effectiveness of air passenger testing schemes

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 […]

12 Oct 2020 • 2 minutes

Infections, admissions and deaths from Covid-19 up – how did we get back here?

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 […]

08 Oct 2020 • 1 minute

Covid-19 sentiment survey

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 […]

04 Oct 2020 • 2 minutes

Why Covid-19 reporting needs more independence, humanity and ownership

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) […]

17 Sep 2020 • 3 minutes

The second wave is testing

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 […]

09 Sep 2020 • 2 minutes

Understanding the risks of the second wave of Covid-19

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 […]

06 Sep 2020 • 2 minutes

The risk to the NHS of a Covid-19 winter

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 […]

01 Sep 2020 • 3 minutes

Did Sweden get it right?

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 […]

09 Aug 2020 • 3 minutes

Regional impact of Covid-19 on waiting lists

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 […]

23 Jul 2020 • 2 minutes

The NHS backlog

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 […]

29 Jun 2020 • 4 minutes

Why we need Pillar 2 testing data to be shared to help stop local outbreaks

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 […]

25 Jun 2020 • 4 minutes

Phase 2 of Covid-19 has started, so there is a big new priority

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 […]

14 Jun 2020 • 2 minutes

Ensuring the delivery of time-critical cancer surgery and a rapid recovery during Covid-19

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, […]

05 Jun 2020 • 5 minutes

The worth of a life: COVID and the limits of economics

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, […]

02 Jun 2020 • 2 minutes

Channel 4 Dispatches: Earlier lockdown modelling

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 […]

27 May 2020 • 4 minutes

Understanding the role of large gatherings on the NHS

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 […]

25 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Press coverage of Edge Health’s work on the impact of large events during Covid-19

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, […]

20 May 2020 • 4 minutes

Understanding health and care’s ‘new normal’ post Covid-19

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 […]

17 May 2020 • 3 minutes

(R)egional variation and case numbers

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 […]

17 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Supporting Sherwood Forrest Hospitals NHS FT with their response to Covid-19

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 […]

13 May 2020 • 2 minutes

When will the demand return?

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 […]

12 May 2020 • 3 minutes

Getting a haircut down under

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 […]

10 May 2020 • 2 minutes

R + number of cases

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 […]

06 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Tracing lockdown sentiment

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 […]

05 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Improving Personal Protection Economics before next time

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 […]

04 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Delayed cancer diagnoses

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. […]

03 May 2020 • 2 minutes

Releasing some of the locks

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 […]

30 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Skydiving, deprivation and 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] —- 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 […]

29 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Country comparison

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

29 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

May the Day of testing be with you

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. […]

28 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Transitioning to a new normal

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 […]

28 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Avoiding a false sense of security for community beds

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 […]

27 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Care home 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] —- 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 […]

26 Apr 2020 • 3 minutes

How antisocial is 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] —- 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 […]

25 Apr 2020 • 5 minutes

Evolving lockdown

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 […]

25 Apr 2020 • 16 minutes

Full working paper: evolving lockdown

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 […]

23 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Pollution-down

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, […]

22 Apr 2020 • 6 minutes

Covid-19 impact on waiting times for elective procedures

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 […]

22 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Planning a mountain ascent

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 […]

21 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Do we need another 6,000 GPs to manage on-going demands from 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 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 […]

20 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

The second wave of deaths

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, […]

19 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Isolated and unable to work

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 […]

17 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

(Tentative) good news

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 […]

15 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Too many people waiting too long

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 […]

14 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Testing surveys

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 […]

13 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Excess deaths

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 […]

13 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

The aspirational 100,000-ventilator challenge

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 […]

10 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Wearing masks

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 […]

09 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Helping with the pressure

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, […]

08 Apr 2020 • 3 minutes

The hospitals facing most pressure to meet coronavirus demand

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 […]

06 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Oxygen

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 […]

06 Apr 2020 • 2 minutes

Lives, livelihoods and how Covid-19 will not end

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 […]

05 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Stay Safe!

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 […]

02 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Survey results – isolating surveillance

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 […]

01 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

The £10bn question – how do we get back to work?

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 […]

01 Apr 2020 • 1 minute

Curious what is happening in Sweden?

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 […]

31 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Dial 111 to help predict Covid-19 infections

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 […]

30 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Taking back control from 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 31 March 2020 Q: How will we know when we have taken back control from Covid-19? A: “R0” (the rate of reproduction […]

29 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Testing times

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 […]

27 Mar 2020 • 1 minute

How well are we social distancing?

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 […]

26 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Predicting peak demand from the Italian experience and learning how to social distance from Chinese

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 […]

25 Mar 2020 • 1 minute

Need to get ready

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 […]

25 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Slowing the spread of infection and taking advantage of regional differences

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 […]

24 Mar 2020 • 3 minutes

How many people are actually infected with 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 […]

21 Mar 2020 • 1 minute

Regional impact of London distancing

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. […]

20 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Covid-19 from London to Cornwall

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 […]

19 Mar 2020 • 5 minutes

Press coverage of Edge Health’s work of the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS

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 […]

19 Mar 2020 • 3 minutes

Regional Analysis for HSJ

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 […]

18 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Plan and collect data now so you can get the best from your 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 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 […]

18 Mar 2020 • 7 minutes

Modelling the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS

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 […]

17 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

More action needed now to reduce mortality from 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] —- 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 […]

16 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

How many more critical care beds are needed regionally?

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 […]

15 Mar 2020 • 3 minutes

Hospitals could need 7.5 times the number of critical care beds to treat virus patients

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 […]

15 Mar 2020 • 7 minutes

Modelling the impact of Covid-19 on the NHS – 15 March 2020

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 […]

13 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Protecting the vulnerable from Covid-19 to flatten the curve

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 […]

12 Mar 2020 • 2 minutes

Is enough being done to reduce 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] —- 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 […]

11 Mar 2020 • 1 minute

Covid-19 – are there enough critical care beds?

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 […]

10 Mar 2020 • 1 minute

Trying to understand the potential impact of Covid-19 on the NHS

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 […]

29 Jan 2020 • 1 minute

Edge recognised by the FT as a leading healthcare consulting firm

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 […]

15 Nov 2019 • 2 minutes

Supporting the development of future eye services

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. […]

24 Oct 2019 • 2 minutes

Developing Intelligence for Cancer Pathway Tracking

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.

23 Oct 2019 • 1 minute

Helping the NHS to save £294m through increasing use of the best value biological medicine

Edge Health helped NHS England model pricing and savings scenarios for Adalimumab biosimilars, supporting a new supply framework that led to over £290 million in savings for the NHS, significantly exceeding initial expectations.

11 Oct 2019 • 1 minute

Participating at HETT 2019

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 […]

11 Oct 2019 • 1 minute

AI in the NHS- Edge Health featured!

“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 […]

30 Sep 2019 • 2 minutes

Press Release: KSS ASHN finds that SpaceFinder delivered improved productivity

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 […]

08 Sep 2019 • 2 minutes

Press release: Edge Health joins cohort 4 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator

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. […]

19 Aug 2019 • 1 minute

Re-imagining the analytics function within 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 […]

06 Aug 2019 • 1 minute

A study into IPT surges on health insurance demand

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 […]

30 Jul 2019 • 2 minutes

From Big Data to Small Samples – How to Avoid Drawing Your Own Conclusions

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, […]

26 Jul 2019 • 1 minute

Understanding the unwarranted variation in spinal surgery

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 […]

09 Jul 2019 • 1 minute

Real-time impact modelling of cancer transformation funding

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 […]

18 Jun 2019 • 3 minutes

Diving into Health Tech

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 […]

13 May 2019 • 4 minutes

How to take the pAIn out of AI in Healthcare? A short summary from our recent event

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 […]

11 Apr 2019 • 1 minute

UPCOMING EVENT: Taking the pAIn out of AI – Applications for hospital improvement

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 […]

03 Apr 2019 • 4 minutes

Why I want ‘differential privacy’ for my NHS data

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 […]

14 Mar 2019 • 2 minutes

Putting information into the hands of Primary Care Networks

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, […]

14 Mar 2019 • 1 minute

Press Release: Space Finder shortlisted for HSJ workforce efficiency award

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 […]

11 Feb 2019 • 3 minutes

Delivering the NHS Long Term Plan: 3 Things You Should Know About The New GP Contract

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 […]

28 Jan 2019 • 1 minute

The Right Move

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 […]

17 Jan 2019 • 2 minutes

Why Does The NHS Need Cheesecake?

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 […]

17 Dec 2018 • 2 minutes

Why Santa needs a Chief Technical Elf

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 […]

07 Dec 2018 • 2 minutes

How to implement a software successfully – User adoption (part 2)

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 […]

30 Nov 2018 • 1 minute

Vanguard evaluation: Northumbria Healthcare

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 […]

29 Nov 2018 • 1 minute

Presenting at the IET

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 […]

14 Nov 2018 • 2 minutes

Session Planner – Data Driven Ops

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 […]

08 Nov 2018 • 2 minutes

Vanguard evaluation: National Orthopeadic Alliance

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 […]

29 Oct 2018 • 3 minutes

What being data-driven really means?

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 […]

19 Oct 2018 • 3 minutes

How To Successfully Implement a New Software – People (Part 1)

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 […]

17 Oct 2018 • 2 minutes

Maximise use of your capacity, to drive high cost weekend work back into core hours

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”, […]

10 Oct 2018 • 1 minute

Attending the NHS-R Community Conference

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 […]

01 Oct 2018 • 3 minutes

Have you checked the oil on your machine learning model?

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 […]

18 Sep 2018 • 1 minute

Real-time impact modelling of cancer transformation funding

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 […]

14 Sep 2018 • 3 minutes

Customers And Design: Steve Jobs or IKEA? Or Why Co-Design Matters

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 […]

13 Sep 2018 • 1 minute

Presenting at EARL

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, […]

06 Sep 2018 • 1 minute

Press Release: Edge Health recognised leader of AI in health

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 […]

23 Aug 2018 • 3 minutes

Real Talk With A Data Scientist at Edge

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 […]

15 Aug 2018 • 1 minute

Urgent economic appraisal to assess viability of options for an acute hospital

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 […]

03 Aug 2018 • 1 minute

Sponsoring the WellChild 2018 Doctor Award

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

06 Jul 2018 • 3 minutes

AI + Healthcare: Why is nobody working on operational improvement?

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 […]

21 Jun 2018 • 1 minute

HFMA: Using AI to improve theatre utilisation at South Tees

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 […]

17 May 2018 • 1 minute

Plan and manage hospital beds more effectively

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 […]

11 Jan 2018 • 1 minute

Optimise the use of theatre capacity

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

19 Dec 2017 • 1 minute

Interactive demand and capacity model for cancer

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 […]

12 Dec 2017 • 1 minute

Theatre utilisation and productivity diagnostic

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 […]

08 Dec 2017 • 3 minutes

How silo working is leading to longer length of stay… and what to do about it

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 […]

31 Oct 2017 • 3 minutes

Don’t Pack Your Pyjamas

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 […]

25 Oct 2017 • 2 minutes

How to stop operating theatres from wasting two hours each day

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. […]

18 Oct 2017 • 1 minute

Prediction tool for critical care bed occupancy – “Critical Planner”

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 […]

03 Oct 2017 • 5 minutes

Five issues every bed plan should consider, and how to make sure plans get delivered

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. […]

20 Sep 2017 • 1 minute

Improving theatre productivity with machine learning – “Space Finder”

Space Finder is our artificial intelligence solution to help operating lists run more efficiently.

16 Aug 2017 • 1 minute

Hospital demand and capacity planning

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 […]

19 Jul 2017 • 1 minute

Surgical pathway demand and capacity planning

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 […]

10 Jul 2017 • 1 minute

Developing a consistent and clear view of demand and capacity for planned care

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 […]

14 Jun 2017 • 1 minute

Bed strategy modelling and clinical engagement – “Bed Simulator”

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 […]

31 May 2017 • 2 minutes

How to change the economics of healthcare

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, […]

29 May 2017 • 1 minute

Bed strategy analytics

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 […]

05 May 2017 • 2 minutes

Is your hospital sick?

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 […]

02 May 2017 • 7 minutes

Four recommendations for NHS operations to get ahead in the data science revolution

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 […]

21 Apr 2017 • 2 minutes

Should we be worried or excited about AI replacing doctors?

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 […]

26 Mar 2017 • 5 minutes

What can STP leaders learn from Formula 1?

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 […]

22 Mar 2017 • 1 minute

Review of new incentive contract

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 […]

19 Mar 2017 • 2 minutes

View from the Edge – when Rasberry and Git got together and made Alexa

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 […]

17 Mar 2017 • 2 minutes

Agency staff 3/3: War on agency staff spending

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 […]

17 Mar 2017 • 4 minutes

Will closing hospital beds save money?

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 […]

17 Mar 2017 • 2 minutes

El NHSiño – the undiagnosed storm facing the NHS

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 […]

27 Feb 2017 • 2 minutes

How a chop in the discount rate will cost the NHS £1bn*

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 […]

15 Feb 2017 • 1 minute

Helping implement RightCare findings – “Pathway Miner”

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), […]

14 Sep 2016 • 1 minute

Acute bed reconfiguration

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 […]

16 Aug 2016 • 1 minute

Assessing strategic options for the future of a hospital’s estate

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 […]

13 Jul 2016 • 1 minute

Pathway Redesign – “Pathway Miner”

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 […]

23 Mar 2016 • 1 minute

Supporting Tariff Negotiations

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 […]

15 Mar 2016 • 2 minutes

Reviewing a Better Care Fund Agreement

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 […]

23 Nov 2015 • 7 minutes

Agency staff 2/3: Ten reasons the agency price caps are likely to do more harm than good to the NHS

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 […]

18 Oct 2015 • 5 minutes

Agency staff 1/3: Eight reasons the agency staff ‘price cap’ will not work

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 […]

15 Jul 2015 • 1 minute

Caring with data: hospital health diagnostic

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 […]

News & Insights

Engineering Showcase: Transforming Surgical Data Management for Enhanced Patient Care

LLMs to Augment Medical Data: A Proof Of Concept

AI in Dermatology: a White Paper by Edge Health for NHSE

Six Actions for Improving Early Cancer Diagnosis

Fit for the Future: Demand and Capacity Planning for the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance

Levelling-Up Cancer Patient Management with Data Engineering

Waiting List Modelling: Effectively Achieve Elective Targets

Streamlining Automated Patient Alerts and Data Access with Azure

SPaedIT: Bridging the Gap in Paediatric Health Data Post-Pandemic

The Value of Clinical Homecare to the NHS, Patients and Society

Addressing NHS Waiting Times Through Patient-Initiated Pathways

Evaluating AI Implementation in the NHS: Skin Analytics AI-powered Teledermatology

A Data-driven Approach to Planning Radiotherapy Workforce Requirements

Developing a System Intelligence Specification in South East London

Routine orthopaedic procedures are more complex than ever before in the NHS

Case Study: Evaluation of the Mental Health Urgent Assessment Centre at LPFT

Case study: Evaluating the benefits of integrating chemotherapy patient management apps

“How many beds?”: Enhancing planning with bed requirement simulations

Imaging Productivity: Harnessing RIS data to meet reporting targets

Improving Cancer Outcomes – Why ICSs Must Tackle Health Inequalities

Elevating Performance and Driving Clinical Excellence: the Discharge Pathways Model Analytical Tool

Why We Need to Start Unlocking Change Using Cancer Data Now

Data Engineering as the Backbone of Modern Healthcare Analytics: Experience from Our Work in the NHS

National Theatre Data Analysis For D&C Modelling

A Proactive Solution to Bed Configurations: Using Simulation to Challenge Narratives

The NHS’ Balancing Act: Prioritising Urgent Cases While Tackling the Elective Backlog

Elective Recovery: understanding targets and finding opportunities to increase activity

Quantifying the private market: an opportunity for NHS trusts

Supporting AGEM with their Business Intelligence function

Supporting Vitacam to develop their health economic proposition

The Data-Driven Approach: Strategies for Understanding Inequality in Paediatric A&E attendances

Celebrating Women at Edge on IWD!

Edge Health at Six

Solving the Emergency: Improving Ambulance Response Times through Strategic Planning

NHS Planning Guidance ICB dashboard: six metrics, one glance

Speeding up cancer diagnosis: how to break the 28-day barrier

10% fewer GPs, record high appointments: how remote consultations are transforming healthcare

Driving data quality improvements to support elective recovery

Why more patients than ever before are missing NHS cancer waiting times targets

Technology can’t replace GPs (yet), but it can save them time

Transforming patient experience into valuable insights

Building best practice in Continuing Healthcare Assessments

Closing the GP workforce gap: not all about GPs

Optimizing diagnosis pathways for ADHD clinics in Canada

Comprehensive review of Tier 3 & Tier 4 Weight Management Services

Three zero cost solutions for retaining more GPs than are trained each year

Demonstrating the value of elective orthopaedic hubs at the NOA awards

Could 50 additional GP training places per year be enough to sustain primary care?

Forecasting demand for services in secondary care

We could save £700million in primary care in 2032 by taking decisive action on obesity and diabetes

How many more GPs we need in 10 years, and what we need to do now

Analytical support to the Getting It Right First Time programme

Capturing consultant outcomes across the NHS

Quantifying the socio-economic impact of changing access to an over-the-counter medicine

Driving quality improvement in Stroke Centres

Focus on outcomes: piloting the collection of outcome data for Occupational Health

System-wide Cancer Pathway Management – CanCollaborate, a tool to monitor and risk-assess PTLs

Targeting Mental Health inequalities in NW London – supporting data-informed system collaboration

Procurement Cost Saving Analysis

Evaluation of Eye Care Electronic Referral Systems

A health economic evaluation of Minder

Case-mix adjustment of NHS patient outcomes

Best Consultancy Partnership with the NHS

Study: Impact of travel restrictions on omicron in Europe

International travel restrictions during COVID – Reopening the skies

Press coverage: lifting travel restrictions in Europe 2022

Press coverage: lifting travel restrictions in the UK 2022

Study: Impact of travel restrictions on omicron in the UK

Omicron and the NHS

The NHS backlog as of August 2021

Outpatient video consultations in secondary care

Outpatient video consultations report – press release

Specialist cancer nurse modelling for Macmillan

Saved by the whistle or the bell?

Freedom Day

Developing Metrics to Support the Growth of the Occupational Health Market

Vaccines and variants in Bolton

The variant of concern

Study: Evidence from testing trials show testing can help restart travel