In this Hot Topics episode, Louise joins from London after an unexpected encounter with the UK healthcare system, while George reports back from the Digital Health Festival.

The pair discuss New Zealand's $450 million digital health and cyber investment, a major new King's College London study showing one in seven people are already using AI instead of seeing a doctor, Demis Hassabis' bold prediction that we're entering the "foothills of the singularity", and two emerging AI approaches aimed at predicting serious disease before symptoms appear.

Plus, a shout-out to Australian health tech company ThinkMD.ai for winning international recognition at the World Health Assembly.

Topics covered:

• New Zealand's renewed investment in digital health and cyber security 
• Why patients are increasingly turning to AI before healthcare professionals 
• Public trust, regulation and the future of clinical AI 
• Google's vision for AI-driven scientific discovery 
• Predicting liver disease years earlier using historical pathology data 
• Longevity science and AI-powered disease prediction 
• What healthcare needs to do to keep pace with accelerating technological change

Resources:

Stryker Vocera's Initial Delays Diagnosis Quiz Link

Digital Health Workforce Census (opens 1 May, ANZ) Link

Hospital Sant Pau, Barcelona Link

The Use of AI in UK Healthcare Report, King’s College London Link

WHO endorses precision medicine resolution Link

Congrats to ThinkMD.ai and Dr Jackie Rabec – Pulse+IT Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

Dr Nick (van Terheyden) brings his trademark frankness to Pulse, unpacking AI panic, broken healthcare business models, clinician workflow, digital transformation myths, and the technologies people are still underestimating. A fast-moving discussion spanning evidence, empathy, innovation, and the future of care.

Nick’s recent article ‘Your fear of AI isn’t rational, it’s prehistoric Link

Connect with Dr Nick on LinkedIn

Stryker Vocera's Initial Delays Diagnosis Quiz Link

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George cover a fortnight that captured the whole spectrum of digital health in 2026 — political turmoil at the top, consumer tech-led disruption from below, and an expert call for responsible AI delivery in the middle.

UK Health Secretary Resigns as Palantir Contract Unravels — Wes Streeting resigns; James Murray becomes the 9th UK Health Secretary in 8 years; the £330M NHS Federated Data Platform faces a break clause as workforce, MPs and unions revolt. Reports emerge of Palantir staff being granted "unlimited access" to identifiable patient data, while the NHS Analysts Together collective launches an open letter calling for the contract to end.

The Wearable Category Just Split Three Ways — Google retires Fitbit, launches Google Health with a Gemini-powered AI Coach and the $99 Fitbit Air, cross-platform with Apple HealthKit. One day later, WHOOP launches live clinician video consultations and EHR integration via HealthEx, backed by Mayo Clinic and Abbott. Meanwhile Oura quietly acquires Galen AI to build a longitudinal health operating system. Three completely different theories of where value sits in wearable health.

Responsible AI UK: The Delivery Playbook — A BMJ Digital Health editorial from RAi UK sets out four priorities for execution: infrastructure and open standards, problem-focused innovation, holistic evaluation, and workforce capability. Essentially the operating manual the new UK Health Secretary should be reading tonight.

Resources:

Stryker Vocera's Initial Delays Diagnosis Quiz Link

Responsible AI UK, BMJ Digital Health& AI Link

Digital Health Workforce Census (opens 1 May, ANZ) Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

At the recent ITAC Conference in Brisbane, one keynote stopped the room.

While most AI presentations focus on efficiency, automation and productivity, Scottish Care CEO Dr Donald Macaskill delivered something very different: a deeply human conversation about dignity, autonomy, storytelling, privacy and what healthcare risks losing in the race toward artificial intelligence.

In this episode of Pulse, Louise and George sit down with Donald to unpack Scotland’s ethical and human rights-based approach to AI in aged care — and why he believes AI is not inevitable, but a choice.

The conversation explores:

• the shift from person-centred to person-led care, 
• why current AI systems often fail to reflect the lived experience of ageing, 
• the risks of surveillance and opaque decision-making in care environments, 
• how Scotland is using co-design and human rights frameworks to shape AI adoption, 
• and why technology should enhance — never replace — human presence and relationships. 

Donald also shares practical lessons from Scottish initiatives including the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI and the Coorie Well project, where residents, families and frontline staff helped shape AI tools from the ground up.

And in a memorable closing exchange, Donald reflects on the one thing machines may never truly understand about care: laughter.

A thoughtful, philosophical and surprisingly funny conversation about what it means to “hold fast” to humanity in the age of AI.

Connect with Donald on LinkedIn

Stryker Vocera's Initial Delays Diagnosis Quiz Link

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George dive into the major developments shaping the future of healthcare. 

Tech giants Google and OpenAI release purpose-built clinician AI tools; a landmark Science paper and commentary on the clinical reasoning capabilities of AI; Eric Topol calls out the paradox at the heart of medical AI; and OpenEvidence, the most-used clinical AI platform in the US walks out of Europe.

Resources:

Brodeur et al. Science paper Link

Hopkins & Cornelisse commentary, Science Link

Eric Topol, The Paradox of Medical AI Implementation Link

Digital Health Workforce Census (opens 1 May, ANZ) Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

In this episode Louise and George sit down with Dr Mehmood Khan, CEO of Hevolution Foundation, and Her Royal Highness Princess Dr Haya Bint Khaled Bin Bandar Al Saud, Senior Vice President of Research at Hevolution. Based in Riyadh and backed by Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, Hevolution is the world's largest philanthropic funder of healthspan science, with over USD $400 million allocated in just three years.

Timed with the release of the second edition of Hevolution's Global Healthspan Report - the most comprehensive look at the field across 23 countries - this conversation moves beyond the longevity hype to explore what it takes to extend healthy human life for the benefit of all.

In this episode:

• Healthspan, not longevity - Why Hevolution is focused on keeping people physically, mentally, and financially independent, and why a global non-profit is the right vehicle for a challenge governments and private enterprise can't tackle alone.
• Why Saudi Arabia, why now - Princess Dr Haya on the demographic shift driving the kingdom's leadership, and why a young population on the brink of ageing is uniquely placed to redesign systems before they break.
• The science that has scientists excited - GLP-1 agonists, senotherapeutics, CRISPR, and cellular reprogramming, and why the real breakthrough is the convergence of these fields, not any one of them in isolation.
• A jaw-dropping case study - Dr Khan walks through how rejuvenating aged liver cells eliminated chronic Hepatitis B in animal models, with first-in-human trials now underway. A profound example of aging biology rewriting the rules for treating incurable diseases.
• What clinicians need to know - Two-thirds of healthcare professionals are now getting monthly healthspan questions from patients. Princess Dr Haya on the shift from reactive to proactive care, and the urgent need for evidence-based healthspan protocols.
• A message for policymakers - Why the Minister of Finance, not just the Minister of Health, needs to be at the table, and why retirement, education, and workforce policies built for a 1%-over-65 world are catastrophically out of date.
• Where digital health innovators should be looking - The five years that could be cut from drug development with better data tools, the four proven interventions that lend themselves to digital monitoring, and why we already have the technology - just not the policy frameworks to deploy it.

Connect with Hevolution on LinkedIn

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore five major developments shaping the future of healthcare. 

Microsoft Opens the Lid on How the Public Uses AI for Health — A new Nature Health paper analysing over 617,000 de-identified Copilot health conversations shows nearly one in five are personal health queries, they spike at night when traditional care isn't available, and one in seven are asked on behalf of someone else.

Reddit as a Pharmacovigilance Signal — University of Pennsylvania researchers mined 400,000+ Reddit posts from people taking GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy, surfacing side effects not well captured in trials or drug labelling and revealing a real-time, patient-generated pharmacovigilance system hiding in plain sight.

Apple Walks Into the Radiology Reading Room — Apple's new Studio Display XDR has received FDA clearance for diagnostic radiology at roughly a third of the price of traditional diagnostic monitors, fundamentally changing the economics of building and scaling reading rooms.

US Digital Health VC — AI Is Now the Operating Environment — Silicon Valley Bank and Rock Health data show AI captured nearly half of all healthcare investment in 2025, with Rock Health retiring its "AI deal" tracking category because AI is now table stakes.

The Fourth Wave of Wearables — Bioforecasting — A small study in the European Heart Journal — Digital Health used smartwatch data to predict vasovagal syncope minutes before it happened, signalling a shift from wearables that measure the present to wearables that anticipate what's coming.

Resources:

• Microsoft Copilot Health Queries Study, Nature Health Link
• Reddit GLP-1 Side Effects Study, Nature Health Link
• Apple Studio Display XDR Announcement Link
• Apple White Paper: Reimagining Medical Imaging Link
• SVB 2026 Healthcare Investments & Exits Report Link
• Rock Health Q1 2026 Funding Overview Link
• Prediction of Vasovagal Syncope using AI-enabled Smartwatch PPG, EHJ — Digital Health Link
• Digital Health Workforce Census (opens 1 May, ANZ) — Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

In this episode Louise and George sit down with Associate Professor Kudzai Kanhutu to explore one of the most profound questions facing healthcare today: what happens to clinician identity, power, and learning when AI becomes part of the team?

We discuss:

• Why clinician identity is the real conversation behind AI adoption 
• What a coaching culture actually requires in a hierarchical, time-poor health system 
• The gap between compliance-driven AI and genuinely personalised clinical decision support 
• Kudzai's vision for AI as a 360-degree professional mirror - drawing on real outcomes data, not vibes 
• The COVID lesson: creativity flourishes when compliance is no longer enough 
• Why C-suite AI decisions need to be prefaced with a standing invitation to say "you got it wrong"
• Final thoughts: the world doesn't have to end in AI

Connect with Kudzai: LinkedIn

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George unpack a rapidly shifting healthcare landscape, where AI is no longer theoretical, but already embedded in patient behaviour, clinical risk, and global policy responses. And a big win for the UK’s digital health workforce!

Ireland’s AI Strategy for Health - Ireland releases a national AI for Care strategy, positioning AI as core infrastructure for healthcare delivery, with strong emphasis on governance, workforce integration, and data readiness. A rare example of a country moving beyond pilots into system-wide planning

AI Named #1 Patient Safety Risk - ECRI ranks AI-driven diagnostics as the top patient safety concern for 2026, highlighting risks like automation bias, poor integration, and lack of governance, reframing AI as a clinical safety issue, not just a technology one.

Apple Forces Health Apps Into Regulation - Apple mandates that health apps declare whether they qualify as medical devices, signalling a major shift from platform neutrality to accountability, and potentially reshaping trust, compliance, and developer behaviour globally

Patients Are Already Using AI - New research from KFF, NEJM AI, and The Lancet shows that consumers are actively using AI for health advice, often before seeing a clinician, with evidence that AI is influencing real-world behaviour and reshaping care pathways

NHS Recognises Digital Health Workforce - The NHS formally recognises its digital, data, and technology workforce as a professional group, a major milestone that elevates digital health roles and signals their critical importance to patient outcomes.

Resources:
Horizon Europe Grants Link

Ireland’s AI for Care Strategy 2026-2030 Pulse+IT Link

ECRI 2026 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns report Link

KFF poll on consumers use of AI in health Link

ESSENCE study, published in the NEJM AI Link

Sara Riggare and Charlotte Blease in Lancet Primary Care Link

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Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health. 

Dr Sara Riggare has spent more than a decade challenging one of healthcare’s most deeply embedded assumptions - that patients are passive recipients of care. Living with Parkinson’s disease and trained as a chemical engineer, she has built a body of work that reframes patients as active producers of knowledge.

In this episode, Sara shares her journey from diagnosis at age 32 to completing a PhD in ‘personal science’, where she studied her own condition to generate new insights into Parkinson’s. Her now-iconic “1 vs 8,765 hours” concept highlights just how little time patients spend in the healthcare system, and how much of their lives, and data, exist outside it. 

We explore why healthcare systems still struggle to recognise patient-generated knowledge as valid, and how this creates an epistemic gap at the heart of modern medicine. 

This is a powerful discussion about power, knowledge, and what it would take to truly design healthcare around the people who live with disease every day.

Resources:

Patients Are Not Waiting For Permission Lancet

Connect with Sara Riggare: LinkedIn

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