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Discrimination, racism, violence are common and weighing heavily on US healthcare workers

Two new healthcare workforce surveys outline widespread reports of discrimination, racism and workplace violence in the USA perpetuated by patients and coworkers alike.

Among the findings were acknowledgments from respondents that incidents of discrimination are rarely reported to management or law enforcement.

Additionally, more than half of the respondents to one survey said that they believed that incidents of workplace violence have increased over the course of their tenure, while nearly half of the nurses who responded to the other survey said they believe “a culture of racism/discrimination” was present as early as in nursing school.

“If we are to truly provide just and equitable care to our patients, we as nurses must hold ourselves accountable for our own behavior and work to change the systems that perpetuate racism and other forms of discrimination,” said Beth Toner, RN, director of program communications at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

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Source: Fierce Healthcare, 2 June 2023

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Discrimination hits record high for second year running

Discrimination against NHS employees reached its highest level for the second year in a row, while one in seven experienced physical violence from the public, according to the 2024 annual staff survey.

Results published for England showed the percentage of staff who had faced discrimination from the public in the past 12 months had risen from 8.5% in 2023 to 9.3% cent in 2024.

The figure has reached its highest level since the question was first asked in 2019, when it was 7.2%, and has risen year-on-year post-pandemic. This has also increased among managers, team leaders and colleagues, from 8.4% in 2020 to 9.2% in 2024.

More than half of respondents (54%) said the discrimination was due to their ethnic background.

Survey results also found 14.4% of staff had faced violence from patients, their relatives or other members of the public in 2024. This figure has increased slightly from 13.9% in 2023 but is below levels seen during covid.

More than 774,000 staff in England responded to 2024 survey between September and November 2024, the highest in its 20-year history, at a response rate of 50 per cent. This is up from 707,000 the previous year and 636,000 the edition before, out of a 1.5 million workforce.

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Source: HSJ, 13 March 2025

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Discrimination against gay and trans staff is undermining productivity, claims CEO

Tackling increased discrimination faced by gay and trans staff must be a priority for the NHS if it wants to maximise workforce productivity, according to the CEO of one of the service’s largest providers. 

Mark Cubbon, CEO of Manchester University Foundation Trust and chair of the NHS Confederation’s LGBTQ+ leaders network, told HSJ there is an “awful lot more” to do to ensure the health service is more inclusive.

A new survey by the network found that members had experienced higher rates of direct or indirect discrimination compared to the workforce as whole, while only 14% felt their organisation acted swiftly and appropriately to these incidents. A quarter of respondents said they had experienced homophobia while 20% reported encountering transphobia.

Mr Cubbon said: “[Some people] ask the question about, ‘why are all these things important’, with the breadth of the agenda that we’re facing across the NHS.

“As I’ve said, not only is it morally the right thing to do, there’s an imperative here for us all."

“It’s really important for the individuals, morally the right thing to do, and it’s really important for the taxpayer so that we can get people to come to work. We employ more than a million people across the NHS, and we want people to be at their best when they come to work.”

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Source: HSJ, 5 December 2024

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Discrimination ‘biggest cause of staff leaving’

Discrimination and inequality are bigger factors for staff wanting to leave acute trusts than burnout, new analysis of this year’s NHS staff survey has found. 

Researchers at LCP compared 12 summary indicators within the survey to answers on intention to leave, to build a “relative importance model” to explain “nearly 85% of the variation in intention to leave”.

LCP said: “Approximately 30 per cent of that explained variance is attributable to the diversity and equality score (compared to less than 10 per cent attributable to the burnout summary indicator score).”

Natalie Tikhonovsky, an analyst in LCP’s Health Analytics team, said: “Our analysis reveals a grim picture of low satisfaction levels and higher staff turnover rates currently facing the NHS acute sector. Understanding what is driving this will be key to the success of the government’s new workforce plan and to the overall aim of reducing steadily increasing wait lists.”

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Source: HSJ, 28 April 2023

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Discover the new technology managing cancer symptoms for patients

In a new trial, cancer patients across the UK have been using the eRAPID technology system to help them manage their cancer symptoms.

The system has been developed by the University of Leeds, and this is the first trial to offer automated advice to early-stage patients whose treatment aims to cure cancer. Hundreds of early-stage colorectal, breast, or gynaecological cancer patients took part in the trial which used computer algorithms to help manage their symptoms and improve their wellbeing. They were able to report online symptoms from home and receive instant advice on whether to self-manage or seek medical attention.

Cancer can cause a range of different symptoms for patients living with the disease, as well as from the side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy, which are sometimes life-threatening and all of which lower a patients’ quality of life. Better monitoring and management of these symptoms can help in improving treatment delivery and reducing patients’ physical distress.

All patients in the trial received their usual care, with 256 receiving the eRAPID system as additional care. The patients reported better symptom control and physical wellbeing in the early weeks of treatment, with the system preventing symptom deterioration in about 9% of patients after 12 weeks.

Dr Kate Absolom, University Academic Fellow in the Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James’s and the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences at the University of Leeds, said: “The encouraging results from this study will help pave the way for future development and refinement of these interventions in broader cancer settings. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need and speeded a shift towards technology-enabled care, so these study results are very timely.”

Programme lead Professor Galina Velikova, at the Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James’s, University of Leeds, and the Leeds Cancer Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Rising numbers of cancer patients are receiving a range of anti-cancer treatments which means patients are living longer and require longer periods of care and monitoring.

“Remote online monitoring options have the potential to be a patient-centred, safe, and effective approach to support patients during cancer treatment and manage the growing clinical workload for cancer care.”

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Source: Health Europa, 11 January 2021

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Discharge reform could save NHS £7bn, claims DHSC

A policy change to speed up hospital discharge could save the NHS more than £7bn over a decade, according to a government evaluation – but ministers have not funded it.

A Department of Health and Social Care impact assessment of the Health and Care Act, passed earlier this year, says that wider use of discharge to assess could free up as many as 6,000 hospital beds and save the NHS £7bn by 2031, the equivalent of £800m a year. It adds: “The overall societal benefits of this would likely be higher as beds could be allocated to patients with more urgent health care needs.”

The “discharge to assess” approach, which has been used on a temporary basis for several years and more widely during the pandemic – with government funding to back it – sees patients discharged more quickly, and provided with support at home while their long-term care needs are assessed. It was credited with significant reductions in the amount of time patients spent in hospital.

Changes in the Health and Care Act were intended to remove legal obstacles to the approach, by revoking a requirement for an assessments be carried out before discharge, which often leads to delays in the patient leaving hospital.

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Source: 15 November 2022

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Discharge policy reviewed as NHSE warns ‘capacity may decrease’

Two national reviews are taking place into hospital discharge policy, it has emerged, amid major changes to funding and legislation.

One review, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, is developing discharge policy for once the Health and Care Bill comes into force; and a second is reviewing the “clinical criteria to reside”.

Delayed discharge has been a major problem in the acute and emergency care system this winter, with the number of long-staying patients significantly up on previous years. It has been blamed for long patient waits for ambulances, to get into emergency departments, and to be admitted; and for interrupting elective care recovery. 

An NHSE letter confirmed that the government’s national “discharge taskforce” was developing “best practice in improving discharge processes and addressing barriers to timely discharge”, in preparation for the new system. 

It went on: “This includes improving hospital processes to support discharge; minimising delays in the transfer of care from an acute hospital on to follow-up care services; minimising long lengths of stay in rehabilitation at home or in bedded care and ensuring social care services are available at the right time for people with ongoing care requirements. Further resources and support will be shared as learning from these systems becomes clear.”

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Source: HSJ, 28 March 2022

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Discharge guidance could see patients die

Patients discharged from hospital without social care packages could die at home, doctors have warned.

They said Welsh government advice to do this showed a system at breaking point.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said it rejects the guidance to "change the risk threshold" for releasing people from hospital.

The Welsh government said discharging patients could help them get better "by reducing the risk of infection and muscle wastage".

Royal College of General Practitioners Wales chairwoman, Rowena Christmas, said the NHS was "unbelievably stretched".

"A frail, elderly person coming home, who can't really safely get from their bed or their chair to the bathroom without risk of falling over, they're not going to be able to survive at home," Dr Christmas said.

"I completely understand we need more beds, but that feels like a bad move."

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Source: BBC News, 6 January 2023

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Discharge guidance could lead to increased death and disability, warn senior clinicians

Serious patient safety and wellbeing concerns about the latest hospital discharge guidance have been raised to HSJ by senior clinicians and charities.

Senior geriatricians warned that the guidance could prompt an increase in “urgent readmissions”, “permanent disability” and “excess mortality”, while charities said families could be left with “unsustainable caring responsibilities” because of the new rules.

The government guidance, Hospital Discharge Service: policy and operating model, published in August, said clinicians should consider discharging patients when they were “medically optimised” rather than “medically fit”. It said 95% of these patients would return straight home with additional social care and rehabilitation support if needed.

Many of the concerns raised surround the retention of the “criteria to reside”. This was originally agreed in March when there was a push from NHS England to free up acute beds over fears hospitals would become overwhelmed with covid admissions as the pandemic hit the UK. The criteria has, however, been maintained in the new guidance, despite a significant fall in infections and deaths from the virus.

Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association charity, warned: “This guidance makes it clear that the NHS is still having to take drastic emergency action in the face of covid-19, that will continue to take a heavy toll on patients. It is clear that many patients will be rushed home who would normally have had a longer period of hospital care.”

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Source: HSJ, 8 September 2020

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Disastrous results’ feared from COVID-19 home tests

Experts have warned giving the public coronavirus antibody tests to be carried out at home could lead to “disastrous results”.

A testing manager at an NHS trust told HSJ they feared the public may take the tests too soon for antibodies to appear, which could produce misleading results, while a leading virologist at the British Society for Immunology called for antibody tests to be carried out in GP surgeries.

Public Health England has previously said it wants to distribute antibody tests via Amazon and Boots and make them available to the general public. Health secretary Matt Hancock has also promised increased antibody tests will form part of 100,000 of all types of daily COVID-19 tests by the end of April.

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Source: HSJ, 17 April 2020

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Disabled woman who died in Sheffield hospital ‘ignored’, parents tell inquest

The parents of a young disabled woman who died after she went into hospital for a routine eye operation have told a coroner that doctors ignored their daughter’s attempts to communicate.

Laura Booth, 21, stopped eating after she was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire hospital in Sheffield, her mother told an inquest hearing in the city on Monday.

Patricia Booth, from Sheffield, said her daughter was ignored by clinicians after she went into the hospital in October 2016 despite her being able to communicate to some extent, including using Makaton signing. She said this was in contrast to her treatment at the Children’s hospital in the city.

Sitting next to her husband, Ken, on a remote link, Booth told the inquest: “They never discussed anything with Laura. They just ignored her. She couldn’t speak but she could understand everything.”

Booth explained how her daughter could make herself understood to her family and would hold her hands out to the doctors, but did not get a response.

“They never gave her a chance,” she said. “They never spoke to her.

“It’s really heartbreaking. Laura was trying to communicate with them but they just wouldn’t listen … It just upset Laura that the doctors ignored her.”

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Source: The Guardian, 12 April 2021

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Disabled children facing ‘national crisis’ as thousands wait months for wheelchairs

Thousands of children are facing long waits for vital wheelchairs as NHS rejections rise, and the UK’s only charity has been forced to stop taking new patients due to a surge in demand.

Whizz Kids, the UK’s leading charity for specialist wheelchair services, has warned patients are facing a “national crisis” after unprecedented pressure on its services has forced it to close to new referrals for the first time in over three decades.

The charity’s leaders said demand has risen 12.5% year on year because more children are being rejected by the NHS for specialist wheelchairs, which cost on average £4,800, due to cost concerns.

One of those children, Charlie Drinkwater, who has spina bifida and growth hormone deficiency, has been denied a specialist chair by the NHS for the past five years.

Although she is eight years old, she is the size of a two-year-old, and so she needs a specialist chair, which could cost up to £4,500. However, due to budget constraints, the NHS does not provide chairs for under-five-year-olds, according to Whizz Kids. The NHS would only offer her a buggy, despite being eight years old.

Now, having grown out of the first chair provided by the charity, and having again been rejected by the NHS, Charlie’s childhood is on hold while she waits for a new one.

She told The Independent: “I’m excited for my new chair because it’s going to be pink. But it makes me sad when it takes a long time.”

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Source: The Independent, 25 September 2025

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Disabled by a drug, ignored by ministers, these children are abandoned

Catherine McNamara had to carry her son, Sebastian, in her arms for years. He was born with a curved spine and deformed limbs, making each step difficult. His disabilities were caused by sodium valproate, an anti-epilepsy drug she took while pregnant. It also left him with numerous learning difficulties.

In 2022, McNamara told The Sunday Times how every day was a struggle: “I’m not able to invest in myself, a career. I can’t buy a house. Just to meet everyday expenses is difficult because I can’t go out and get a job.”

Like thousands of mothers with valproate-affected children she wanted help for hers and to know they would get the care they needed throughout their life.

Three years on there has been silence from the government over whether it will compensate families harmed by valproate, a drug given to women for decades despite known risks that it could damage their unborn babies.

England’s patient safety commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, submitted a detailed report to ministers on how a compensation scheme could work 18 months ago. It, too, has been met with silence.

Hughes has demanded action on her report. “It should not take the government this long to respond. Every day’s delay intensifies the harm caused to these patients who have been harmed by the healthcare system,” she said.

Calls for compensation have also been backed by MPs from across the Commons. More than 100 parliamentary questions have been submitted on the topic since Hughes’s report.

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Source: The Times, 17 August 2025

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Directors to be judged on their ability to create ‘compassionate’ cultures

NHS England has announced the first details of its ‘Leadership Competency Framework’, and revealed it will be launched this September.

The LCF will underpin the annual appraisal of NHS board directors and, in turn, adherence to the revamped Fit and Proper Person Test.

NHSE also revealed that leaders, including senior clinicians, who hold “significant roles” but are not board members may be subject to the FPPT in the near future.

The new FPPT framework said the LCF would contain “six competency domains which should be incorporated into all senior leader job descriptions and recruitment processes”.

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Source: HSJ, 3 August 2023

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Director excluded for a year by his trust

The British Medical Association has claimed the exclusion of a medical director from his trust role for more than a year reflects a “toxic culture” and “disturbing pattern” when concerns are raised.

Tim Noble has been excluded from his director role at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust since September 2024, his union confirmed to HSJ this week. The British Medical Association claims the exclusion is unlawful as he has been prevented from returning to work.

It is thought Dr Noble’s case is due to proceed to a formal disciplinary hearing at the trust this month, but the details, including any allegations, are not known. He has continued one session a week for the trust in his consultant medical role.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 4 December 2025

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Direct GP referrals may cease for many non-urgent cases under new national strategy

National leaders are looking to greatly reduce the number of direct hospital referrals made by GPs, by insisting that they first discuss cases with hospital consultants. 

The approach – known as “advice and guidance” or “A&G” – involves GPs sending a patient’s details to a consultant who specialises in their condition before making a referral. The consultant then advises on the best course of action.

“A&G’ has been voluntarily adopted by many health systems, but HSJ has now learnt that a move to significantly increase its use of it is being discussed as part of a new national strategy for outpatient services, due to be published by December.

Theresa Barnes, outpatients lead at the Royal College of Physicians, is part of a group of clinicians helping to develop the strategy in partnership with NHS England, and said there is a case for A&G to be used “in preference” to direct referrals in a vast number of cases where it is clinically appropriate.

She told HSJ: “I think there should be a push to use advice and guidance in preference to direct referrals, so we can maximise that pre-referral interaction and deliver as much care as close to patients’ homes as they can get it and without the delay of potentially waiting for a secondary care appointment.”

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Source: HSJ, 20 September 2023

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Digitising all trusts by 2025 ‘unachievable’ after £700m cut, government admits

NHS England’s target for all trusts to have a working electronic patient record (EPR) system by March 2025 is now ‘unachievable’’ and a new date has been set a year later, government has admitted.

A new report of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority – the government body which scrutinises and supports major projects – states: “Delivery confidence is [rated] red as a number of NHS trusts are reporting they are unlikely to be able to fully implement an electronic patient record by March 2025.”

The document, published quietly last week, downgrades the rating from “amber” to “red” – and also reveals £700m was cut from the programme’s budget last year. 

The “frontline digitisation” programme was launched by government and NHSE in 2021 with the aim of getting all trusts to a minimum level of capability, including 90% to have an EPR of an acceptable standard by the end of 2023, and 100 per cent by March 2025. 

But the IPA report states that a revised business case is now being prepared to reflect a new “end date” of March 2026.

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Source: HSJ, 24 July 2023

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Digital triage system ‘making it easier to contact GPs’

Replacing GP receptionists with a “digital triage” system has made it easier for patients to see their family doctors, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The NHS said that 99% of GP surgeries in England had now adopted an e-consultation system, meaning patients fill out an online form as their first point of contact.

After detailing symptoms, they receive a call or message back that day, offering a face-to-face appointment, a phone consultation, or directing patients elsewhere, such as to a pharmacy.

It means people are spared the hassle of having to call up their GP reception in an “8am scramble” for appointments, and NHS leaders reported that access had improved over the past year. New ONS figures show that 72% of people said it was easy or very easy to contact their GP, up from 60 per cent in July 2024.

However, access to GP appointments is still significantly below pre-pandemic levels, with surgeries struggling to cope with increased demand. There were 29.3 million GP appointments in April 2025 — a rise of almost five million on the same period pre-pandemic.

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Source: The Times, 2 June 2025

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Digital training ‘should be embedded in clinical curricula’

Digital training should be “embedded” into clinical curricula rather than being “bolted on”, the Chief Executive of ORCHA has said. Liz Ashall-Payne said more needed to be done to ensure appropriate digital training for clinicians or risk a “knowledge gap” forming between current and future staff.

Dr Sandeep Bansal, Chief Executive of Medic Creations and mentor on the Royal College of GPs innovation mentorship programme, echoed calls for digital training to be incorporated in the medical school curriculum. 

“Your organisation is only as strong as lowest digitally mature staff member. It is all very well educating our tech-savvy junior doctors, but we must make sure those less au fait with digital advancements are not left behind. That is where patient safety could be put at risk. After all the main purpose of digital innovation is to enhance our ability to care for patients, by enabling more effective, efficient and precise clinical practice.”

Clive Flashman, Patient Safety Learning's Chief Digital Officer, agreed with the need for clinicians to receive digital training but with a focus on how to quickly evaluate an apps. “What is essential is that all clinicians, not just GPs, have access to advice, tools and support to enable them to prescribe and monitor the effectiveness of apps and digital therapies,” he told Digital Health News.

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Source: Digital Health, 29 October 2019

 

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Digital tools key to improve patient flow in the NHS, report says

Digital technology should be used to support whole-system patient flow rather than simply improving bed management, according to a new report from Public Policy Projects (PPP).

Beyond bed management: enabling whole-system patient flow through digital intelligence argues that persistent flow problems across the NHS are rooted as much in governance and fragmented pathways as in operational pressures within hospitals.

It says digital tools have potential to improve the movement of patients across acute, community and neighbourhood care settings. However, participants warned that technology alone will not resolve longstanding bottlenecks.

Instead, it calls for a shift from viewing patient flow as solely a bed management issue.

The report draws on a roundtable held on 18 March 2026, chaired by Dr Victoria Betton, director for digital, data and AI at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex.

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Source: Digital Health, 6 May 2026

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Digital tool to analyse maternity data

The NHS is introducing new clinical standards for maternity services in England, including the rollout of the Maternal Outcomes Signal System (MOSS), a digital tool designed to rapidly analyse routine maternity data and flag emerging safety concerns

MOSS will enable maternity teams to spot potential safety issues requiring urgent attention, with findings published every six months to ensure trusts take action to reduce risks. The NHS has allocated up to £5 million to trusts this year to implement the maternal care bundle, which includes upgrading facilities with direct telephone lines for ambulance crews and new monitoring systems for pregnant women.

The new standards, part of the NHS’s maternal care bundle, aim to reduce maternal deaths caused by conditions such as blood clots, strokes, cardiac disease, suicide, sepsis, obstetric haemorrhage, and pre-eclampsia, which account for 52% of maternal deaths. They include early risk assessments for venous thromboembolism, tailored care plans for women with epilepsy, and routine mental health assessments.

Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for England, said: “Every death during or after pregnancy is a tragedy, especially when differences in care may have changed the outcome. We still see symptoms of serious medical problems being missed, especially for Black and Asian women. By setting out these clinical standards and holding hospitals to account, we can significantly reduce avoidable deaths and prevent future tragedies.”

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Source: UK Authority, 1 May 2026

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Digital NHS health check to be launched across England in spring

A digital NHS Health Check is to be rolled out across England from next spring, the government has announced, in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on GP surgeries.

The initiative will deliver 1m checks in the first four years, according to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Tens of thousands of cases of hypertension are expected to be identified and hundreds of strokes and heart attacks prevented. Patients will be able to access the check via a mobile phone, tablet or computer, the DHSC said.

Participants will complete an online questionnaire, enter height, weight, and the results of a cholesterol test which they can carry out at home. They will also be asked to have their blood pressure checked at a pharmacy.

The results, which will be available online, will direct people to personalised advice. Referrals to GPs will only be made if further tests and treatment are needed.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This initiative will help to reach more people and encourage them to get their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked so that, where necessary, healthcare professionals can work with them to manage their condition.

“This could play an important role in helping people live healthier for longer and saving lives in the coming years, while reducing pressure on the NHS.”

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Source: The Guardian, 28 June 2023

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Digital mental health tools to be regulated

Recent years has seen a large, and rapid, growth in the availability of digital mental health tools. Do an online search for 'NHS Mental Health Apps' and an abundance of options will appear.

These online tools can be helpful for people experiencing mental health problems, however, the Medicines Health and Regulatory products Agency (MHRA) said, they "present regulatory challenges" - such as clarity around whether they are medical devices and, if so, which risk classification they fall under.

"Digital mental health tools offer millions of people vital support and guidance to explore and help manage their mental health issues every day," said Johan Ordish, head of software and artificial intelligence (AI) at the MHRA. He pointed out, however, that there are a number of "regulatory complexities" in establishing when these products should be regulated and what evidence they must have to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.

Minister for Mental Health, Dr Caroline Johnson, said: "Digital mental health tools can be incredibly useful to help build resilience and prevent problems worsening, but it’s crucial these are regulated properly."

To address these vital issues MHRA and NICE will explore and produce guidance on regulating digital mental health tools, using £1.8m funding by Wellcome over 3 years.

The project will review key aspects of medical device regulations to produce guidance that will support digital mental health in several significant areas – including:

  • Determining what qualifies as a medical device.
  • The risk classification the devices would fall under.
  • A review of the current evidence base for the devices.

The MHRA explained that to achieve this it will "engage with" and "learn from" those with lived experience, subject experts, and patients, to inform their conclusions. 

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Source: Medscape UK, 11 October 2022

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Digital health equity gaps remain, finds WHO research

People with greater health needs and language barriers still struggle to use digital health services and technologies, according to research led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health Wales.

The scoping review found that these groups experience difficulties accessing technology because of limited access, low digital literacy and services being poorly adapted to diverse needs.

It also identified that inequities in digital infrastructure between regions risk creating uneven access to innovation.

Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, director of health systems at WHO/Europe, said: “One of our main objectives with this new review was to understand what exactly drives inequity in digital health, and how equity is incorporated into regulation, implementation and evaluation processes globally.

“One of the key takeaways is that equity in digital health cannot be achieved through isolated actions but requires a coordinated, whole-system approach to ensure equitable regulation, implementation and evaluation of digital health.”

The scoping review covers literature published between 2015 and 2024, assessing 154 articles to identify where good practices and persistent gaps exist.

While equity is increasingly referenced in digital health strategies, it often lacks operational standards to guide its inclusion or mechanisms enabling governments to provide oversight, risking the benefits of digital health and AI being unevenly distributed.

Dr David Novillo Ortiz, regional adviser for data, AI and digital health at WHO/Europe, said: “Equity should never be treated as an afterthought in the development and implementation of digital health technologies.

“If someone in a rural area cannot access a telehealth consultation because it requires high-speed internet that is unavailable in their village, then innovation is failing the very people it should serve.”

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Source: Digital Health, 23 March 2026

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