Digital Health Unplugged: The Forgotten Patients
The report examines the UK’s NHS ten‑year health plan, which pivots from analog to digital services, and asks whether the shift will widen existing health inequities. Experts cite that 30% of pensioners are offline and another 40% struggle with online consultations. A King’s Fund study shows 53% of the digitally excluded are over 65, but 47% are under 65, with poverty, disability and social isolation driving exclusion. Roughly 37% of excluded individuals have a health condition that impedes digital access, and many capable users lack accessible design. Caroline Abrahams warns older patients need choice, not forced digital pathways. Lee Rickles warns of a two‑tier system unless affordability, competence and usability are addressed. Owen Chiniri highlights inconsistent ethnicity recording, while Rachel Power stresses that 8.5 million people sit in the middle of the digital divide, needing guidance. If the NHS proceeds without robust inclusion strategies, it risks entrenching disparities, losing trust, and overburdening staff. Effective policy must combine universal design, granular data, and clear alternatives to ensure digital health improves outcomes for all.
Digital Health Unplugged: Rolling Out the FDP and AVT at Scale
The Digital Health Unplugged episode captured at Digital Health Rewired 2026 highlighted how University Hospitals Leicester (UHL) and University Hospitals Northampton (UHN) are scaling two cornerstone initiatives – a Federated Data Platform (FDP) and Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) – across...
Pitchfest Winner Valentina Milanova at Rewired 2026
Valentina Milanova, the Pitchfest winner at Rewired 2026, used her platform to spotlight the urgent need for better cervical cancer screening in the United Kingdom. Her presentation highlighted that cervical cancer, though entirely preventable, remains the second deadliest cancer among...
Why NHS Innovation Stalls
The Digital Health Unplugged episode examines why innovation stalls in the NHS, featuring Mindy Simon of the NHS Innovation Accelerator and Alina Nenova, CEO of Feebris, to unpack scaling challenges and systemic lessons. They stress that robust evidence of cost‑effectiveness and...
Complexities and Capabilities of Scan4Safety in NHS Hospitals a Qualitative Study of a National Demo
The BMJ Health and Care Informatics journal club presented a qualitative evaluation of the Scan for Safety programme, a national demonstrator that applied GS1 global standards to barcode medical devices, medicines, patients and staff across NHS hospitals. The study examined...
The Case for NHS-Owned, Open Software
The episode of Digital Health Unplugged focuses on the NHS’s retreat from a publicly documented open‑source policy, highlighted by the sudden disappearance of policy pages after the NHSX merger into NHS England. Host Jordan Soloff and GP‑turned‑digital‑health advocate Marcus Bore...
Building Epic: Judy Faulkner on Leadership
In a candid Digital Health Unplugged interview, Epic Systems founder and CEO Judy Faulkner recounts how a basement‑startup in 1979 grew into one of the United States’ largest private health‑IT firms, now serving roughly ten percent of acute NHS trusts. She...
Exploring the Interoperability Conundrum
The podcast 'Exploring the interoperability conundrum' examines whether the NHS's shift from analog to digital, as outlined in its 10‑year health plan, is sufficient to create a truly interoperable, data‑driven system. The guests argue that sheer volume of digital records does...