#270: A Bureaucratic NHS Bonfire đ„
The one-minute healthtech roundup, brought to you by SomX
Hi friends,
This week - NHS job cuts, Microsoft lands AI (I think thatâs unrelated) NHS-wide AI and is Linkedin actually censoring womenâs health?
đïž Fancy this in podcast form? SomXâs Jessica Somauroo and Harry Salt dive into this weekâs healthtech news with help from Numanâs Grace Hatton (and some technical assistance from SomXâs James tooâŠ)
And itâs on YouTube if you like that kinda thing.
News Bites đ„Ș
âïž The NHSâ ÂŁ1 Billion Bureaucracy Job-Cut Bonfire: The UK Treasury has approved a cool ÂŁ1 billion to fund the redundancy of 18,000 NHS administrative staff. Itâs presented as a move to slash admin overheads and (we would hope) channel money into frontline patient services, but itâs an interesting one to grapple with. If youâve ever thought that saving money for the NHS is a good thing (which is all of us), then simultaneously you probably feel awful for the individuals (thinking âbig bad organisationâ), but probably glad that our public health system is running more efficiently. Tough to reconcile, I know. And Iâm sure youâre wondering, so ÂŁ1B/18,000 = ÂŁ55k each.
đ° A ÂŁ14M âQuantum Boostâ for Novel NHS Diagnostic Tech: In good NHS news, ÂŁ14 million was also announced for âquantum sensingâ projects. Yep, thatâs as cool as it sounds. Think full Minority Report - quantum brain imaging for epileptic patients, portable quantum eye scanners⊠and to play along at home, just stick the word quantum in front <body part> <diagnostic test> and email it to a few investors. For any fans of The Thick of It, this also reminds me of: âthatâs good because it sounds like a lot doesnât it.â ÂŁ14M into quantum sensing doesnât sound like itâll go that far, but at least the UK is in the game.
đ€ Womenâs Health Voices Outrageously Silenced on Social Media: Hertility co-founder Deirdre OâNeill has (unbelievably, had to) twice this week express concerns over the censorship of womenâs health-related content in Hertilityâs latest marketing campaign (risking us being censored here too, but letâs have it - breasts, vagina, labia, endometriosis, PCOS, ovariesâŠ). Why twice, you ask? Well, the first post itself was originally censored (the definition of irony), so Deirdre had to post again. Reading a lot of the comments since, it seems the state of affairs is that Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and IG are suppressing content related to womenâs health topics, and itâs inexcusable in 2025. Whether itâs malice or incompetence, at this point, Pigeon doesnât even care, just solve the ****ing problem and stop adding to the list of mountains to climb for womenâs health.
âïž OpenAI Is Coming For Healthcare: Aside from investing in gene-editing startups this week, Sam Altmanâs reach continues to expand. Open AI themselves have declined to comment, but signs are (and weâre just speculating - no litigation here please) that theyâre expanding their foundational models into new sectors, including the building of a personal health assistant. SomXâs Jessica and James talked on the Healthtech Pigeon podcast this week about this one, so if you want to hear how this might be the start of a consumer health record that doesnât fail (like every other big tech companyâs efforts), give it a listen.
đ The Guardian Weighs In On Healthcare AI: The Guardian UK has published an extensive report looking at âethical risksâ vs âpurported promisesâ of AI in healthcare diagnostics and research. Weâve all banged the drum around risks of bias, privacy etc., but this one details where exactly those even riskier pain points lie in the healthcare and tech fields: A good (or perhaps terrifying) read for your Sunday evening. And, it is a report at the end of the day, so whatever you do, donât forget to whack the PDF into ChatGPT with âsummarise this into a LinkedIn post for me.â
đ© Bic for Her? No, Personalised Care - by Hers: Two big drops this week from leading US telehealth platform Hims & Hers: The âHersâ arm have announced the launch of their personalised care plans for menopausal women (and jumping on the menopause gold rush bandwagon) to include both HRT and non-hormonal prescription options and addressing the growing demand for tailored care for women in this previously (and some would argue, still is) underserved area. The second? Theyâve also announced âLabsâ - quite literally, a namesake lab-testing product they say will analyse bloodwork and suggest custom health plans for its users. All in a weekâs worth for personalised healthcare, it seems.
What to Listen to đ
âAnyone who has sat for half an hour scratching their head in the middle of the night trying to find a local guideline on the hospital intranet will be able to see the benefit of Eolas Medical. I thought that the latest episode of The Healthtech Podcast with Declan Kelly was a fantastic interview.â Lovely shoutout from Emma Thornton from the brand new Pink Pineapple pod. And because we believe in karma đ
đ Boom. Check out their second episode⊠The Hidden Censorship Holding Back Womenâs Health, with Anna OâSullivan, co-founder of CensHERship. Clearly very topical this weekâŠ
Events đ
Modern Healthtech Marketing - Psychology, Culture & AI
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Nov 19
đ Hale House, London, UK
On 19th November at Hale House, Jessica and I are running a hands-on session for healthtech founders and leaders. In a market racing to adopt AI, the advantage in comms and marketing is still human: clarity, credibility and connection; psychology, culture and timing. Weâll show you how to build and execute a communications strategy, where to use AI for speed without losing authenticity, and how psychology and culture shape what gets noticed and believed. Youâll leave with a practical checklist you can action the next day. Spaces are limited - reserve a spot below.
MedTech World Malta 2025
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Nov 12 - 14
đ Malta
Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Presidentâs Conference 2025
đ
Nov 114
đ Online & at Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Medica
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Nov 17 - 20
đ Dusseldorf, Germany
Leaders in Health Summit
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Nov 18
đ London
MEDevice Silicon Valley
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Nov 20
đ California USA
Slush 2025
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Nov 19 - 20
đ Finland
The NHS - Fit for the future- a masterclass for innovators
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Nov 25
đ London
Healthtech Forward
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Dec 2 - 4
đ Barcelona
Opportunities đ”ïžââïž
đïž 3 roles at SomX: If youâre into communications / marketing and think you could handle the kind of chat in this newsletter every weekday (except every other Friday, we work a 9-day-fortnight), then apply here. We help healthtech, biotech and pharma companies with everything you can think of, comms- and marketing-wise, and weâre looking for a PR specialist and two juniors across content and PR to help us with some very cool new clients. DM me (James) if you have any questions.
đȘ NHS CEP applications: Are you a budding entrepreneur or âideasâ person aiming to solve for broken processes (or even just repeatedly broken laptops) within the NHS, but not quite sure who to speak to, where to start, or what to do? Well, UK fans, youâre in luck - the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programâs annual applications portal is now open. Deadline 28th Nov!
đ§ Product Engineer at Hardian Health: Digital health tech consultancy leader Hardian Health is on the hunt for a Senior Product Engineer to work alongside their fab team. The role will form part of their plan to expand an in-demand internally developed beta regulatory database into a production-ready Greenfield application (Pigeon does not speak engineer, but this sounds very clever and fun).
đŠ Immunology Medical Pipeline Lead at Sanofi: Fancy yourself in the pharma industry, but with a heavy slant on the infectious disease lens? Immunology pipeline lead is a key strategic role for Pharma giant Sanofi, and this role is one that will come with high visibility across the UK working closely with regional and global teams to develop networks for immunological healthcare professionals.
đż Head of Clinical Services at Montu: Got an interest in medicinal cannabis? Montu are looking for a GMC-registered doctor whoâs ready to step up as Head of Clinical Services - shaping the medical vision, leading clinical strategy, and helping them scale what is sure to be an increasingly game-changing service here in the UK.
đ Senior Fellow - Scientific AI at McKinsey: An interesting one from the consulting firm biggie, with a new role sitting between supporting client service teams of scientific & technical colleagues, and aiming to bring medical knowledge to their Life Science R&D department. If youâre after a foray into management consultancy, take a gander at this JD.
Super interesting. As someone working for an ICB at the moment, the only thing I would say is it isnât full of bureaucrats. Itâs full of nurses, doctors and other clinicians designing better pathways for patients. Definitely things can be made more efficient, but thereâs a lot of value in whatâs being done too.