Five AI technologies have moved closer to use in the NHS after NICE provisionally recommended them to help radiologists spot prostate cancer on MRI scans.
The software can highlight suspicious areas for specialist review and could help make diagnosis more accurate and consistent, while reducing unnecessary biopsies. NICE proposes making the tools available during a two-year evidence-gathering period, allowing hospitals to assess how well they work in everyday care.
The recommendations are currently in draft form, ahead of final NICE guidance.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has secured £42 million to rebuild the emergency department at Queen’s Hospital in Romford. Plans include dedicated waiting areas, improved children’s emergency facilities and space for 195 patients within the redesigned department. The funding enables the project to proceed; construction and opening dates have not been announced.
The government has announced almost £140 million in funding for 14 urgent and emergency care projects across England. The plans include new treatment facilities, improvements to existing emergency departments and 40 additional double-crewed ambulances for the East Midlands.
Among the allocations are £42.1 million to rebuild the emergency department at Queen's Hospital in Romford, £12.9 million for a same-day emergency care facility at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre and £10 million for a new urgent treatment centre at the James Paget Hospital in Norfolk.
The digital projects include £18.4 million over three years for check-in and triage systems across London's emergency departments, and £7.7 million over four years for a coordination centre at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge to improve the management of beds, admissions and discharges. The systems are funded proposals, not confirmed deployments.
Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading has introduced ARTHUR, becoming the first UK hospital to use the named robotic ultrasound system in rheumatoid arthritis care. Robotics and AI help capture images of hand and wrist joints, which clinicians use to assess disease and guide treatment. The trust expects the system to expand scanning capacity; quantified improvements in waiting times or patient outcomes have not been reported.
The Spark has welcomed patients at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, bringing outpatient services together with the National Centre for Child Health Technology. The £24 million facility combines diabetes, sleep, physiotherapy and rehabilitation care with research and technology-testing spaces, including a 34-camera movement laboratory. It is designed to support more than 200 patients a day; that is capacity, not measured daily activity.
A new NHS community diagnostic centre has begun treating patients at Rodney Road in Portsmouth. The facility provides MRI, CT, X-ray and ultrasound outside Queen Alexandra Hospital, through a partnership between Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and Alliance Medical. It adds scanning capacity and brings together other diagnostic services, some transferred from existing premises.
NICE recommends four digital rehabilitation technologies for NHS use while further evidence is generated. mymobility covers hip or knee replacement, GoWellHealth hip replacement, and BPM Pathway and Physitrack knee replacement. Use depends on an agreed evidence-generation plan and applicable regulatory and NHS digital approvals; this is conditional access, rather than unrestricted routine adoption.
Prescription-ready notifications are rolling out through the NHS App at nearly 2,500 pharmacies in England, including participating ASDA and Boots branches. People who enable notifications can receive alerts on their mobile or smartwatch when medicines are ready to collect. The wider prescription-tracking service is available at over 3,200 pharmacies; that larger figure does not describe availability of the new alerts.
Royal Surrey has received a donated da Vinci 5 surgical robot, supported by Gordon and Stella Murray following Gordon’s treatment at the Guildford hospital. The equipment adds to an established robotic surgery service. BBC reporting estimates potential treatment for up to 600 patients a year; that is expected capacity, not activity already delivered. The donation does not establish that the hospital’s separate Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre has opened.
Bio-Techne announced the opening of its fully operational Bristol GMP small-molecule manufacturing facility on 8 October. The purpose-built 10,000 sq ft facility has five ISO-8 and two ISO-7 cleanrooms and is manufacturing materials for cell-therapy developers.
A £33.2 million government programme will support eight projects developing vaccine technologies against threats including Ebola, plague, Marburg, Lassa, Nipah, chikungunya and Mayaro. The coordinated investment supports research, clinical trials and manufacturing technologies to strengthen epidemic and pandemic preparedness. Funding is a research commitment, not evidence of vaccine efficacy, regulatory approval or availability to patients.
Northern Ireland’s regional thrombectomy service has operated around the clock since 14 September, the Department of Health confirmed on 5 October. Treatment at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital previously ran from 8am to 5pm, seven days a week. The expanded regional referral pathway enables clinically eligible stroke patients to be considered overnight; it does not imply that every stroke patient is suitable for the procedure.