Latest news with #personalizedcare
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Shropshire hospital trust launches dedicated home birth team
A dedicated home birth service has been launched by a Shropshire NHS trust. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) announced that a team of seven midwives will provide 24-hour care to women and their families in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Mid Wales who choose to give birth at who opt to use the service will have a named midwife who will provide their antenatal and postnatal care. Tasha Simmons from SaTh said although the trust already offered home births, the dedicated team meant "greater personalised care" could be provided. "Families will get to know our team throughout pregnancy, and their experience will centre on collaborative decision-making and on birth preferences being safely supported."The trust said two midwives, including at least one from the new team wherever possible, would attend during labour. Paula Gardener, interim chief nursing officer, added: "Having a dedicated team of midwives ready to support the birth preferences of families in our communities means continuity of care and an opportunity for strong and trusting relationships to be forged". Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Sun
7 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
‘Revolutionary test' that detects cancer up to a YEAR before it shows on scans to be rolled out on NHS in world first
SUPER sensitive cancer blood tests will be rolled out to NHS patients in a world first. People diagnosed with breast or lung cancers will be tested for circulating tumour DNA, known as ctDNA, to find fragments of disease in their blood. 1 Results will give doctors a quick read on their cancer type, speeding up access to specialised treatment with higher chances of success. Clinics typically have to wait for the results of scans and surgical biopsies to be sure what they are seeing. New 'liquid biopsies' could also one day be used to stop cancer spreading, predict the risk of it coming back and guide treatment changes. Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England's director for cancer, said: 'Liquid biopsies are leading us into a new era of personalised cancer care. 'We are now able to expand the use of this revolutionary test on the NHS to help tailor treatment for thousands of patients across the country. 'It has the potential to help us scan the body in a single blood test to see where and how cancer may be developing and target it with speed and precision to help save more lives. 'We hope to roll it out for patients with other forms of cancer in the near future.' ctDNA tests will be offered to patients with advanced breast cancer that is not responding to treatment, and people with suspected non-small cell lung cancer. Following successful pilots, England is the first country to begin a mass rollout and will test thousands of Brits every year. It is hoped many will be spared from unnecessary tests, surgery or chemotherapy. NHS rolls out bowel cancer screening to 50 and 52-year-olds after Dame Debs' campaigning Dr Isaac Garcia-Murillas, from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: 'The potential for patient benefit and cost savings to the NHS is incredible. 'The main point is it's non-invasive so there is no need for tumour biopsies, which can be painful. 'And often by the time you have tested a tumour by imaging it has already grown. 'If you pick it up earlier you can intervene earlier and smaller tumours might respond better to drugs. 'This test allows you to see cancer cells that are undetectable on others.' The NHS blood testing could see lung cancer patients get the best treatment weeks earlier, compared to waiting for scans and biopsy results. Women with hard-to-treat breast cancer will have tumour DNA analysed to work out the best targeted approach. Research by Dr Garcia-Murillas last year found the blood tests can detect signs of cancer growing back up to a year before it shows on a scan. Doctors hope the blood testing will become so accurate and simple that it can be used to monitor tumours in near real time. Dr Julie Gralow, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said: 'This is a cool way of not having to stick needles into wherever the cancer is to test it, but just drawing blood. 'It's live monitoring at a level that is actually much more specific and early than waiting for it to show up on scans.' Cancer tests currently available in the UK In the UK, several cancer screening programs and diagnostic tests are available, including blood tests, imaging scans, and biopsies. Screening programs for breast, cervical, and bowel cancers are offered to specific age groups, while other tests, like those for lung cancer and prostate cancer, are available through a doctor's referral or self-referral. Breast screening Offered to women aged 50 to 70, with self-referral for women over 70, using mammograms to detect early signs of breast cancer. Bowel screening Home test kits are sent to individuals aged 50 to 74 every two years, with the option for those over 75 to self-refer. Cervical screening Offered to women, some transgender men, and some non-binary people aged 25 to 64, using Pap tests and HPV tests to detect changes in the cervix. Prostate cancer screening There is no national screening program for prostate cancer in the UK due to the unreliability of the PSA test.
Harvard Business Review
29-05-2025
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
AI-Enabled Digital Twins
Download the report The health care landscape is undergoing a seismic shift fueled by technological advancements, empowered patients, and a burgeoning demand for accessible, personalized care. To navigate this turbulent yet promising era, the industry is looking to new technologies such as digital twins that are powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
How AI is transforming work in Hull for Bee Lady doctors
Doctors are using artificial intelligence to help them offer more personal care and reduce the risk of staff at Hull's Jean Bishop Centre are trialling a computer programme during consultations which makes notes for them, allowing them to concentrate fully on their AI programme can also be used to draft referral letters and care summaries, slashing time spent on Andy Noble, a frailty expert and GP at the centre, said: "I'm able to make a little more eye contact. I'm more relaxed in speaking to patients. [I hope] they feel that benefit as well." Named in honour of local fundraiser the Bee Lady, who died in 2021, Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre brings together nurses, GPs, pharmacists, physiotherapists and social care staff under one patients are invited to the centre for the whole day, and they receive lunch and a thorough health MoT with the aim of keeping them out of hospital, reducing their medication, and finding the root cause of their 81, has been invited to spend the day at the centre in a bid to tackle his long list of medical if he minded the computer listening to his private conversation with the doctor, he said: "I've got no worries at all." He hopes having an easy-to-digest summary of his medical history written by AI will ensure under-pressure medical staff don't miss any of his conditions."It's got all of my records now. They can look back on it and pick up everything," he told Dr Noble about his recent three-week stay in hospital, when he thought "there was no way back" from his worsening came close to tears as he recalled how worried his wife Marie was, and how relieved they were that he had been sent to the team at the care centre."They're all brilliant here. I cannot thank them enough. I wish I'd found it a year ago, I really do," he said. Dr Noble, who has worked at the centre since it opened in 2018, said his hour-long consultations had been transformed during the past seven months by the AI programme, called Heidi computer makes transcripts of his consultations and then turns them into notes for patient records."I used to make a lot of notes when I was talking to patients. It takes a bit of pressure off," he said. At the end of each appointment, Dr Noble presses a button and, within a couple of minutes, the conversation is transformed into an easy-to-read summary of each individual health issue, and a list of current programme can also draft referral letters, care summaries, to-do lists and discharge notes."It does all the donkey work, essentially, in the background for us," he said."I now will check through it, and we have to make a few alterations – maybe some things we need to add that weren't captured – but that is picking up all the bits of work I would generally have to do after I've seen a patient."He said AI had cut time spent on admin by at least half, and that time would help staff keep up with the latest medical learning and allow them to take proper breaks to prevent burnout. AI is being increasingly trialled in healthcare, including checking scans for diseases doctors were not looking for, spotting early-stage cancers or potentially fatal infections in blood tests, and reducing GPs' British Medical Association said it welcomed advances in technology that benefitted patients or made the most of face-to-face doctor-patient interaction, but warned that it was not "a silver bullet".Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA's general practitioners committee, said: "We recognise that AI has the potential to transform NHS care completely – but if not enacted safely, it could also cause considerable harm."AI is subject to bias and error, can potentially compromise patient privacy and is still very much a work-in-progress."Back at Jean Bishop Centre, there is one specific hurdle doctors there are still trying to overcome."Heidi has had a few issues with the Hull accent," said Dr Noble."Hull Royal Infirmary" has been turned into "Hull oil and firmly" – although feedback is helping the AI programme to learn.
