Hey friends, 

This week: We might be stuck in limbo between Christmas Day and New Year, but there’s no such thing as a slow news week in healthcare!

At HealthTech Pigeon HQ, we’re feeling a bit down in the dumps. Everyone seems to be focused on our dry cousin, turkey. Did you know that we’re one of the most intelligent birds on the planet? We can read all 26 letters of the English language. Can a turkey read? Turkeys are just for Christmas, this Pigeon is here all year-round.

Anyways back to business, Oracle acquires Cerner for a cool $28B, nine medtech startups awarded £8M to innovate urgent and emergency care and healthtech professionals from across the NHS share their priorities for the upcoming year.

News Bites 🥪

💰 Oracle acquires electronic health records giant Cerner for sweet $28B - Big tech continues to bulldoze its way into the healthcare arena with one of the biggest tech acquisitions of the year. Interestingly, Microsoft’s recent play into healthcare with the acquisition of Nuance Communications is facing heavy scrutiny from UK regulators. Will this deal be plain sailing for Oracle or will it run into similar regulatory scrutiny?

🚨 Over £8 million awarded to pioneering MedTech companies innovating urgent and emergency care - SBRI Healthcare has awarded £8+ million to nine MedTech innovations. These innovations look to manage emergency care in a very different way, with A&E departments across the UK facing extreme pressures, one which is sustainable and delivers appropriate high-quality care at the right time and in the right setting.

📺 Couldn’t join the GIANT Health event earlier this month? - Fed up with watching Love Actually, Home Alone and the Grinch for the billionth time? Fear not, the sessions from the event are up on Youtube. You might even spot Papa Pigeon, Dr James Somauroo in one of the videos! Popcorn is recommended for the best viewing experience.

👀 NHS tech priorities for 2022: “digital innovation will remain front and centre” - Having eyes on either side of our head is a huge advantage for us Pigeons. Why? Well, we have a much wider view of the world. A remarkable 340º field of view, to be precise. Looking forward, we’re keen to hear from the professionals about their tech priorities for 2022.

What to Listen to 🔊

🎄 RSM Digital Health Section: Dr Tim Ringrose - Community Building in Healthcare - In this Christmas bonus episode Dr Tim Ringrose, a Doctor and President of the RSM's Digital Health Section Council discuss the importance of community building in healthcare. With 20+ years of driving innovation in healthcare, he helped build the UK’s largest online doctor community, Doctors.net.uk. He later co-founded Cognitant Group, a company working with clinicians and the pharma industry to empower people with clear, reliable health information. He is a mentor for the NHS clinical entrepreneur programme and serves as a NED and adviser for several healthtech companies. (Pretty average CV right?)

Opportunities 💰

🩺 AI Engineers - Scalpel is expanding and looking for talented AI engineers with a background in Computer Vision and Core Engineering to join them on their mission of making surgery safer. The healthtech startup is building a non-invasive sensing platform for operating rooms that detects and prevents errors in real-time during an operation.

💬 Deputy Head of Strategy at NHSX - Sounds like an exciting role but unfortunately it may be too good to be true…with the recent announcement that NHSX has been recalled back to the mothership (NHS England). If you’re interested, we think it’s still worth exploring.

🛠 Clinical Advisory Board - Pigeon is always being approached by clinicians looking to work with healthtech companies, and companies looking for clinicians for their advisory board. Fit either of those categories? Get in touch here.

(It's like a game of Guess Who but without the mystery, guesswork or questionable outfits.)