Dr Owain Rhys Hughes

At Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we have mapped our data into the OHDSI (Observational Health Data Sciences & Informatics) OMOP Common Data Model (>1.5M patients, >450M measurements, ~18M visits, etc. https://lnkd.in/e9bz_Dqx. 🎞 📷 ) When I first set LTH on this journey, I knew of no one else in the Northwest of England doing this, let alone at this scale and not in the way I wanted this to be done. In less than 12 months, we accomplished quite a bit - including incremental daily refreshes so that our OMOP data is as fresh 🍀 as the midnight before extending the use of OMOP to much more than research uses. At about the same time I decided that we were going to do this, I also discovered dbt Labs's data-build-tool (https://getdbt.com/). This radically changed how we were able to do this as a team and accelerated development. See our ELT documentation here -> https://lnkd.in/evb_yshe. I was fortunate to have an incredibly talented data engineer who was willing to learn dbt and OMOP fast and is now doing a PhD in data engineering! And, Tim Howcroft joined the team as well and is leading on the cancer work. As we look to scale the OMOP transformation work to all of Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) with University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust next, am I wrong to consider swapping dbt for SQLMesh (https://sqlmesh.com/)? One way to find out is to evaluate them. So, I rebuilt the OHDSI Achilles scripts in both dbt (for SQLServer and Databricks) and SQLMesh. They all work (including DataQualityDashboard in dbt for Databricks). dbt_achilles: https://lnkd.in/ePHjw-Xs sqlmesh_achilles: https://lnkd.in/eDHY5sxE dbt has been phenomenal so far 🚀 but with our OMOP data in Databricks and as the complexity and scale of ELT grows, SQLMesh promises certain advantages over dbt. We have spent a year getting good at using dbt and wonder if SQLMesh's approach is superior enough to pivot for our use case. This will be an important decision in the coming weeks - one that will have ramifications for how we operate as a team 🤼 , our ability to scale as well as manage our cloud consumption costs. 💰 I would welcome thoughts from anyone here 🙏 .

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New: Our latest NHS Race & Health Observatory report outlines practical solutions to long-standing challenges associated with ethnic inequities in genomics and precision medicine. Read the main report and lay summary here: https://lnkd.in/eZZrzkDT

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Privileged and exited to be one of the mentors for the Accelerating FemTech programme . 21 of the best start-ups, university spinouts and entrepreneurial-minded academics who have early-stage innovations for women’s health. These innovations have the potential to address urgent challenges in women’s health, including menstruation management, maternity and neonatal safety, menopause management and sexual health. LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/dhfA3K4d #AcceleratingFemTech

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In his official report, published today, Lord Darzi emphasises the urgent need for more ‘technologies that would support more efficient, higher quality, safer care in the community’, and for technologies capable of radically reshaping NHS treatment pathways. This is not something that we need to wait years to see. This year alone, millions of NHS patients will directly benefit from the launch of new tech tools into NHS pathways. In July of this year, 13,000 NHS patients with musculoskeletal injuries accessed on-demand, virtual triage through the #Phio platform. That’s 13,000 people who bypassed waiting lists and were directed straight to the best source of treatment. By forging new tech-medited care pathways, tools such as #Phio are helping reduce the burden on secondary care and conserve resources across the health system. A commitment to further accelerate the adoption of proven new technologies is a vital step to restore the world-leading status of the NHS. #FutureOfHealthcare #HealthcareTransformation #TechForGood https://lnkd.in/edYHcsJC

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Draft budget 2025/26 for Wales: £600m “extra revenue and capital funding” for health and social care with promise for investment in digital tech Story: https://lnkd.in/ewX9wUFA

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Draft budget 2025/26 for Wales: £600m “extra revenue and capital funding” for health and social care with promise for investment in digital tech Story: https://lnkd.in/ewX9wUFA

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Launching a new treatment or innovation in the UK? If you're wondering where to start when approaching NHS decision-makers, look no further! In this clip, Dr Faris Al-Ramadani (Former PCN Clinical Director and GP Partner in the NHS, and HealthTech and Venture Capital Consultant) shares his advice on who may be best to approach from GPs to PCNs and ICBs. Watch the full webinar (first recorded in July 2024) at: https://lnkd.in/e4YuUNJb #NHSWhispers #GlobalWhispers #medtech #medicaldevices #pharma #medtech #healthtech

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🌍 New Report Alert: Fixing General Practice in the NHS The British Medical Association has released a new report, Patients First: Why General Practice is Broken & How We Can Fix It, addressing the mounting challenges faced by general practice in the NHS. 📉 It's key findings reveal: - Severe underfunding of GP practices, with 2,000 closures since 2010. - Fewer GPs managing an increased number of patients, resulting in access issues. - The loss of continuity of care, which is vital for patient outcomes. The report outlines immediate, medium, and long-term solutions, including: - Immediate actions to retain GPs and prevent further closures. - A new GP contract that increases funding and supports continuity of care. - A long-term vision for a GP-led, community-focused, preventative healthcare model. This report is a call for bold investment in general practice to ensure patients receive the care they deserve and to secure the future of the NHS. I'm curious to know what my NHS and General Practice based connections think of the report and it's recommendations 🏥 #NHS #GeneralPractice #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCare #GP

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Commenting on The Health Innovation Network’s Impact Report 2023-24, Dr Vin Diwakar, Interim Director of Transformation for NHS England, said: “The latest report highlights that investing in innovation, research and life sciences can significantly enhance patient outcomes and benefit the UK economy and society.” Read the report: https://lnkd.in/eKYmriY2

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The vital role of expert specialist medical laboratory scientists in healthcare efficiency. Those of us working in the cancer diagnostic environment have always known what is outlined in this report. It is way overdue for those in wider Health and specific Pathology management to also take notice of the importance and vital role that scientist expertise adds to cancer diagnostic pathways and indeed all health clinical pathways. Strategy approaches targeting the medical laboratory workforce that are totally focused on fiscal determinants that end up deskilling the expert scientist roles for a cheaper less skilled workforce should always be called out. Very hard to do anything in health without a diagnosis but still we have no medical science leadership clout in NZ to ensure this vital medical science connectivity, very eloquently outlined in this paper, is front and center within all Cancer and wider health discussions.

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Really great roundtable discussion chaired by LaingBuisson on 'Private Healthcare Post-Election: Navigating Changes' with panellists including Hannah Farrar from CF, David Hare MBE from Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) and Justin Ash from Spire. 📈 Waiting lists: With waiting lists announced to have increased today, how the independent sector can support the NHS to bring down waits was a big component of the discussion. Hannah shared CF analysis showing RTT waiting lists have two components: BAU and backlog. This backlog component varied significantly across specialities. Radical change is needed by the new government to clear this. Justin emphasised the need to keep the patient centre as part of these pathways and described how a significant proportion of Spire appointments made available to the NHS go unfilled every week. David highlighted how the incoming Labour government have been very open to working with the independent sector to support NHS recovery to help patient outcomes. Also highlight that 94% of healthcare locations run by IHPN members have an overall rating of good or outstanding from the CQC. Well done to Tim Read for chairing! #healthcaredata #privatehealthcare

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Missed our panel discussion this week where NHS consultants discussed their 'Top 10 learnings from clinical validation'? Don't worry; we've made the recording available for you to watch on demand. Through our work with more than 20 hospitals covering over 70,000 referrals, we’ve seen that consultant-led clinical validation and prioritisation returns 30% of patients to their GPs with management plans and up to 50% in some specialties, like neurology. We have gained insights into pathway efficiencies and opportunities that NHS consultants shared in our panel discussion earlier this week. You can catch up on the recording below: #ClinicalValidation #ReferralTriage #NHSLeaders #ElectiveRecovery

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Interesting read

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Very excited to be at the British HIV Association (BHIVA) Autumn conference (not least because I was able to WALK from our new home in East London!). The first session on the management of HIV in the context of occupational health strtaed with Dr Aliasad Hashtroudi of Optima Health who advises the UK Advisory Panel for Occupational Health: https://lnkd.in/eDxu3V6x (please note Faculty of Occupational Medicine UK the weblink needs updating to reflect the title of the document please, no place for 'infected' here....) New concept of EPE (exposure prone environments) in addition to EPP (procedures) which requires local risk assessment. Anyone starting a new role requiring EPP mandated ot be screened for HIV, HBV & HCV. If you have already been undertaking EPP pre-2007 it is an offer, not an obligation, if post-2007 and you are changing jobs it is mandatory to have at least one BBV screening test on your record. Currently healthcare workers living with HIV are subject (IMO) to overly stringent testing requirements - there is no need surely to insist on testing 3-monthly in the context of taking suppressive ART? And if you are ONE DAY outside the testing window.....de-registered! Would be good to see an update. Next we heard about local implementation of national guidance from Lindsey Macleod of Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. The rules are challening to implement & requires HIV clinics to do blood tests in a way they do not ususally i.e. every 3 months AND with photo ID. New staff have to wait at least 3 months to start work. Lindsey used real cases to highlight the harm that this can cause - including one staff member who felt really uncomfortable when unabvle to start work for 3 months "healthcare associated stigmatisation". It takes HCWs with HIV THREE TIMES LONGER to achieve occupational health clearance than their counterparts with HBV and that can risk job offer withdrawal. This is not logical or evidence-based and, as Lindsey pointed out, surely breaches the Equality Act? Many of the people who experience occupational health challenges have migrated to the UK and the 3rd talk in this excellent session was from Laura Hilton, an HIV nurse consultant. Laura undertook a data analysis of 155 people form 8 centres who had recently migrated from the UK, most of whom travelled for work reasons, primarily in care roles (despite important qualifications and skills in other areas). 20% had no ART left and 1 in 3 had less than 2 weeks left at the point of contact with an HIV clinic - for many it took far too long to locate a service - we must do better. Yvonne Gilleece Tristan Barber British HIV Association (BHIVA) The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) National AIDS Trust Terrence Higgins Trust NHIVNA (National HIV Nurses Association)

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🚀 Funding Opportunity: Innovate UK’s Digital Therapeutic XR for Mental Health Programme 🚀 Innovate UK is investing up to £3.7 million in projects developing digital therapeutic extended reality (XR) solutions to support mental healthcare services. This programme aims to advance innovative XR applications that can be scaled as part of the UK’s formal mental healthcare ecosystem. 🔹 Funding Available: £200,000 - £300,000 per project 🔹 Deadline: Wednesday 15 January 2025, 11:00 am UK time 🔹 Eligibility: UK-registered organisations developing XR-based digital therapeutic solutions for mental health Project Requirements XR Application in Mental Health: Create digital therapeutic solutions using XR, including VR, AR, mixed reality, haptics, immersive audio, and holograms. Focus on Moderate to Severe Mental Health Conditions: Develop solutions that provide real-world benefits for those living with moderate to severe mental health challenges, improving quality of life, employment, and daily activities. Scalable Solutions Across Clinical Levels: Propose solutions suitable for any stage in the care pathway with a clear potential for regulatory approval and wide-scale adoption. Acclivity Ventures offers expert grant-writing support to help UK organisations craft high-quality applications, boosting their chances of securing funding and making a real impact in mental healthcare innovation. https://lnkd.in/eEiFCEJZ

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Artificial intelligence in primary care PCC's chair Professor David Colin-Thome recently drafted this short blog for NHS Networks. PCC funds NHS Networks which provides a networking/sharing platform for health and care services. https://lnkd.in/ey3d8DJ7

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Opportunity to co-design and pilot CLEAR’s AI-powered clinical notes summary tool   The National CLEAR Programme is delighted to be announcing the launch of a seven-month AI pilot which is open to seven NHS trusts across England.   It follows the programme’s development of a new clinically-designed AI powered patient consultation summary tool which can transform workforce productivity enabling more time for patients.   Expressions of interest are now being sought for the pilot which offers seven NHS trusts (one per region) to become early adopters and co-designers of the tool within pre-operative assessment (anaesthetics).    Two webinars providing further information are being held on Wednesday 29 May and Tuesday 4 June 2024. The deadline for expressions of interest is the 5pm on Monday 17 June.   For further information and the CLEARnotes expression of interest pack , visit https://bit.ly/3UU4KZn #NHS #NHStransformation #NHSinnovation #AIinhealthcare #CLEAR

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