Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust have installed two new robot dispensers to help patients get their medicines from their pharmacy quicker and more efficiently.  

Once a dispenser requests a certain medicine, the robots send it directly to them. The dispenser would then label, and double check it against the prescription before it is given to the patient. 

Later this year the team are also introducing electronic prescribing, meaning the pharmacy team can request medication from anywhere in the hospital, rather than going to collect paper prescriptions on our wards. 

Read more on the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust website. 

Medical drone in-flight (Credit: Apian and Wing)

Urgent blood samples are being transported across London – using drones. Transporting samples for high-risk patients between Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital can take more than 30 minutes by road. Now, using high-tech drones, this can be achieved in less than two minutes. 

The partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Apian and Wing has helped clinicians achieve quicker test results, enabling them to provide the best possible care – and get patients home sooner. 

This is just one powerful example of how digital innovation in healthcare is directly improving outcomes for patients. 

Read more on the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust website. 

Using a robot to dispense medication has created a smoother and more efficient process for patients and pharmacists at Junction Pharmacy in Brixton. 

The robot provides greater efficiency and accuracy for by automatically dispensing medications and managing stock, allowing staff to focus on providing patient care.   

Bhaveen Patel, Superintendent Pharmacist at Junction Pharmacy, said: “We have been here for just over 20 years now and this robot has been a game-changer.  

“It has helped us to streamline our workflow. We have become more efficient, and our staff have more time to focus on their patient facing roles.” 

Pharmacists have also been able to deliver additional services, including immunisations and vaccinations on-site helping to reduce GP and hospital waiting lists for these services.  

Caroline Clarke, Regional Director for the NHS in London, said: “As we shift our focus from analogue to digital, I’m proud that London is home to some of the most innovative services, pioneering new ways of using technology to deliver high quality and accessible care for everyone.” 

Read our press release on Digital innovation boosting NHS productivity in London.

A London-wide study led by Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Data Research, Innovation and Virtual Environments unit found that ambient voice technology can reduce admin burden for clinicians and improve the quality of face-to-face interactions between clinicians and patients.   

Thanks to the automated note taking, clinicians said they could give their full attention to their patients without risking the quality of their notes or letters. 

Dr Maaike Kusters, Paediatric Immunology Consultant, who took part in the trial at GOSH said: “The patients I see in my clinics have very complex medical conditions and it’s so important to make sure I capture what we discuss in our appointments accurately, but often this means I am typing rather than looking directly at my patient and their family.   

“Using the AI tool meant I could sit closer to them face-to-face and really focus on what they were sharing with me, without compromising on the quality of documentation.”   

The new 10 Year Health Plan encourages this kind of digital liberation for staff across the NHS, enabling technology to boost clinical productivity. 

See how AI is giving clinicians more face-to-face time with patients

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust have performed over 500 robotic operations for conditions including prolapse, heavy periods and incontinence, providing patients with quicker recovery times and better outcomes. 

A typical robotic surgery lasts between one and two hours depending on how complex the condition is. The surgeon operates from a console and controls the robot, supported by an assistant. 

Compared to traditional laparoscopic surgery, the robotic method offers greater precision for surgeons, especially for more complex cases. 

Roopa Nair, our Clinical Director for Women’s Health and Lead for Robotic Gynaecology, said: “It was really heartening to see the interest in women’s health, and being able to offer this service locally means women no longer need to travel elsewhere. It’s encouraging to have the support of our local MP and mayor and it shows their commitment to advancing care for women.” 

Read more on the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust website. 

Experts at King’s College Hospital and King’s College London are using robot radiotherapy to improve patients’ experience while also reducing cost. The new robot system treats wet neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by administering a one-off, minimally invasive dose of radiation, followed by patients’ routine treatment with injections into their eye.  

The results found that patients who had the robotic radiotherapy required fewer injections to control their disease compared to standard treatment.

Read more on the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts website.  

A new video messaging app has launched at King’s College Hospital and Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) is helping families receive regular updates of their premature babies. 

The app, allows staff on neonatal intensive care units at King’s and the PRUH to send regular photo and video updates securely to families, allowing them to see play and therapy sessions, baths and feeding times. Parents and families can also use the app to ask questions and receive important updates about their baby’s progress. 

Dr Anusha Arasu, Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “A stay on a neonatal unit can be one of the most stressful times for a family, but we can now support parents to be more involved, and more connected to their baby’s care, as well as making a positive impact in delivering family centred care, even when they are not able to be at hospital. The app not only allows us to share photographs and updates with parents, but helps to reduce separation anxiety and allows the whole family to create and build an emotional bond with their baby.” 

Jade has been using the app to receive updates on her twin daughters Tennesse and Tallulah, who were born prematurely at 32 weeks. She said: “It has been really hard to leave my girls for any amount of time. Seeing photos of them both doing well is a joy and gives extra reassurance.” 

Read more on the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust website. 

Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are reviewing twice as many referrals per clinic, thanks to a new digital pathway for urgent suspected skin cancer.  

Isla’s digital pathway supports faster and more confident decision-making by allowing GPs to capture high-quality images and clinical information from patients. Those images and forms are sent securely to Homerton for review through the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS), with digital consent replacing paper-based processes and everything saved directly into the patient’s record. 

For patients this means quicker responses and fewer delays. For clinicians, it means less admin, fewer duplications, and a clearer picture at the point of triage. 

Angela Wong, Chief Medical Officer at the North East London Cancer Alliance, said:“Our top priorities as a cancer alliance are to deliver faster diagnostic results, detect cancer at an earlier and more treatable stage, and tackle health inequalities across our communities. 

“By adopting ISLA’s digital platform for suspected skin cancer, we’re taking a significant step forward in achieving these goals. This innovation will help strengthen our position as one of the leading cancer alliances in the country.” 

Find out more on the North East London cancer Alliance website. 

The North East London Cancer Alliance is leading a pioneering initiative to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into cancer diagnostic pathways, aiming to deliver faster and more accurate results for patients. 

In collaboration with Barts Health NHS Trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the project focuses on reducing the wait time for chest X-ray results. For scans with significant findings, turnaround times are expected to fall from three weeks to just three days. 

By using AI to prioritise and flag potential cancers earlier, clinicians can take quicker action and patients can begin treatment sooner. This not only supports earlier diagnosis and improved outcomes, but also helps reduce pressure on radiology teams by streamlining reporting processes. 

Oliver Hawkins, Senior Project Manager for North East London Cancer Alliance, says: “It has been great working with Qure.ai and Sectra to deliver an AI-driven solution aimed at revolutionising diagnostic pathways in north east London. This provides patients with faster access to crucial diagnostic tests and improves overall healthcare delivery.” 

Read more on the North East London Cancer Alliance website. 

West London NHS Trust community nurses are using AI tools to monitor, treat and escalate woundcare in the community.

The implementation of the Minuteful for Wound (MfW) AI digital wound management solution, means that clinicians can receive immediate support from colleagues, who can review images remotely and provide real-time advice. For managers, the system offers the ability to generate detailed reports on healing rates, improvements, deteriorations, and overall progress, enabling them to monitor outcomes more effectively and ensure better care delivery.  

A matron from the continence and tissue viability team said: “Using the app, our teams can now see wounds in real time and offer accurate clinical advice straight away. AI will never replace clinical judgment, but this tool enhances it—it’s transforming care delivery!”  

Since implementing the MfW AI technology in July 2022, the programme has:  

• Treated 8,605 wound and supported the care of more than 3,457 patients ensuring more consistent management, timely intervention, and seamless patient experience throughout the care journey.  

• Avoided 29 in-person visits by using the ‘senior feedback’ feature that was launched in January 2025.  

• Saved 5.30 minutes per consultation  

• Carried out 64,599 assessments  

The West London NHS Trust/Healthy.io collaboration was highly commended in the HTN AI and Data Awards 2025 for its work on the implementation of this solution.   

Read more on the West London NHS Trust website. 

The Royal Free London is the first NHS trust in the country to introduce the Magneto laser – a new, advanced machine that removes kidney stones with greater speed and precision. 

This technology offers improved control for surgeons, allowing them to break down kidney stones into fine dust without displacing them during the procedure. By doing so, it reduces the risk of larger fragments remaining, which can lead to repeat treatments. 

Traditional holmium laser treatments often left larger residual fragments, requiring some patients to undergo additional procedures. 

The introduction of the Magneto laser marks a significant step forward in patient care, helping to streamline treatment and reduce the likelihood of complications. 

Leye Ajayi, clinical service lead for urology, said: “The most significant thing is that the Magneto machine gives you control and much more power while offering you treatment options and efficiency. The high-power pulse modulation gives the surgeon different settings and allows for individualised stone treatment, so we can break the stones into fragments, into small popcorn pieces or into dust. 

“Because it’s so powerful, we can laser larger stones in one sitting and reduce the need for second completion procedures for patients, which they often would have with the standard machine.” 

Read more on the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust website.  

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is harnessing cutting-edge digital technology to transform skin cancer care, using global-first autonomous AI technology to identify harmless (benign) skin lesions without the need for dermatologist review.   

The AI system, known as DERM and developed by Skin Analytics, uses high-quality dermoscopic imaging to assess skin moles and lesions. With an accuracy rate of 97% for detecting skin cancer and 99.96% for ruling out melanoma, DERM performs at a level comparable to specialist clinicians. 

Patients with benign results can now be discharged on the same day, reducing anxiety and providing quicker reassurance. By safely identifying these cases, the Trust aims to free up more than 30% of urgent skin cancer appointments, helping prioritise those most in need of further investigation or treatment. 

Read more on the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust website. 

Read more about the teledermatology service as featured in The Standard and The Times. 

Digital innovation is reshaping the way community pharmacies operate—bringing measurable improvements in efficiency, staff wellbeing, and patient outcomes. 

In South East London, one community pharmacy is leading the way by integrating advanced technologies into daily practice. These innovations are streamlining operations, empowering pharmacy teams, and enhancing the quality of care delivered to local residents. 

Key innovations driving transformation: 

• AI-powered Patient Medication Record (PMR) system: This NHS-accredited system enables 98% paperless dispensing. It performs clinical safety checks in seconds, helping pharmacists identify risks early and improve patient safety. 

• Integrated dispensing robot: Fully connected to the PMR system, this robot enhances accuracy, speed, and dispensing volume, significantly reducing manual workload. 

• E-retrieval system: Patients receive text or email notifications when their prescriptions are ready. The system also supports Real-Time Exemption Checker (RTEC) functionality at the point of collection, improving convenience and compliance. 

• Ambient voice technology pilot: This innovation captures and summarises consultations, allowing pharmacists to focus more on patient interaction and care delivery. 

• AI-driven clinical service templates: Using trusted sources such as NICE’s Clinical Knowledge Summaries, these templates guide consultations and generate PDF summaries for patients, supporting consistent and high-quality care. 

These innovations underscore the potential for scalable digital solutions to enhance pharmacy services and deliver better outcomes for patients and communities alike. 

UCLH and University College London (UCL) have developed a digital decision-making app, MENO.pause to help clinicians manage menopause symptoms in the best way for individual patients’ health conditions.   The project has been supported in part by the North Central London Cancer Alliance Innovation Fund. 

The app uses the most up-to-date national and international guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Excellence (NICE), British Menopause Society (BMS) and the British Gynaecological Cancer Society (BGCS) to assist healthcare professionals in GP surgeries and hospitals with providing high-quality, evidence-based treatment options for patients.   This includes patients who have undergone cancer treatment or who have a high genetic risk of cancer.      

Dr Shibani Nicum, honorary medical oncologist at UCLH and associate professor of oncology UCL, founder and project lead for MENO.pause, said: “We are committed to providing the highest quality menopause care across the country and are delighted to have launched the MENO.pause app, which transforms national menopause guidance into clear, step-by-step decision-making support. 

Read more on the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.