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The latest innovations in healthcare, including acquisitions in the healthcare sector, DNA-led preventative care pathways for high-risk individuals and NHS Elective Surgical Hub accreditation.
Phoenix Equity Partners to help Medmark evolve
UK private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners has invested in Medmark, Ireland’s largest occupational healthcare provider. The deal will support Medmark’s next phase of growth through organic expansion, M&A and technology development.
Founded in 1987, Medmark operates across nine locations in Ireland, serving public and private sector employers and supporting more than 500,000 employees. Its services include occupational health assessments, health screening, workplace medical evaluations and employee wellbeing programs.
The investment will fund the expansion of Medmark’s clinical and operational teams, investments in digital health platforms and customer reporting tools, geographic expansion, and targeted acquisitions to broaden its service capabilities.
Medmark will continue to be led by chief executive officer Robert Ryan and deputy chief executive Paul O’Grady, with Phoenix providing capital, board-level support and operational guidance.
“From our first meeting with Robert and Paul, we have been hugely impressed by the market-leading business they have built,” said Phoenix Equity Partners partner Barry Robinson. “At the core of their success has been a clear and consistent focus on clinical excellence over many years, supported by an outstanding and people-centric culture. We believe Medmark is well placed to benefit from growing demand for occupational health and workplace wellbeing services across Ireland.”
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust opens Bridgwater Diagnostic Centre
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has officially opened the £17.8 million Bridgwater Diagnostic Centre, located alongside Bridgwater Community Hospital. The facility was developed in partnership with managed equipment services provider Ergéa UK and offsite construction firm Actiform.
The centre is equipped to provide MRI and CT imaging services, and will house Somerset’s first dedicated urology investigation unit, which is scheduled to open later this year. Designed to deliver approximately 25,000 additional scans annually, the community diagnostic centre (CDC) aims to support earlier diagnosis, shorten elective waiting lists and divert diagnostic demand away from the trust’s acute hospitals.
The opening expands Somerset’s CDC network, building on previous diagnostic developments in Taunton in 2021 and Yeovil earlier this year.
“Aligned with one of the NHS’s key shifts, to move care from hospital to community, this facility will help us provide faster access to vital diagnostic tests, support earlier diagnosis, and make it easier for patients to be cared for closer to home,” said Adam Turner, head of imaging at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. “It is also helping us free up capacity across our two acute hospitals in Somerset, supporting better care for inpatients.”
Agentis Health Group acquires Clinical Pharmacist Solutions
Pharmacy and digital health management specialist Agentis Health Group has acquired Clinical Pharmacist Solutions (CPS), a CQC-registered provider of clinical pharmacy services and training for primary care networks (PCNs) and GP practices.
The deal will provide CPS with access to Agentis’ Living With platform, a digital health tool used across 40 NHS trusts, community providers and integrated care boards (ICBs) for remote patient monitoring and condition-specific therapeutics. By integrating CPS’ clinical pharmacy workforce with the Living With platform, Agentis plans to offer commissioners, PCNs and GPs end-to-end long-term condition management pathways – such as monitoring asthma and COPD patients to optimise medications and reduce emergency care admissions.
Formed from Ashtons Hospital Pharmacy Services, Agentis operates across three core divisions: pharmacy, laboratories and healthcare. CPS, founded in 2019, will retain its dedicated training academy for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians while using Agentis’ digital infrastructure to build new primary care services.
“The acquisition of CPS is a re-affirmation of our commitment to combining the expertise of pharmacy professionals with innovative digital technology to improve efficiency, access, and outcomes,” said Agentis chief executive Stephen Tuddenham. “We see a huge opportunity in helping primary care to deliver long-term condition management at scale, to support the NHS’ long-term policy agenda, and to assist patients improve their quality of life and care.”
Harrogate uses AI-enabled HER2 scanner for breast cancer diagnostics
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) has become the first NHS Trust to introduce an artificial intelligence-enabled HER2 tissue scanning system into routine clinical use. Deployed within the histopathology department at Harrogate District Hospital, the Roche digital scanner is designed to accelerate diagnostic decision-making and support faster treatment planning for breast cancer patients.
Funded via a £40,000 fundraising campaign by the Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity, the technology captures high-resolution digital slides of breast tissue and applies an AI algorithm to evaluate human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein expression. By detecting whether the HER2/neu gene is overexpressed, the platform assists pathologists in rapidly determining patient eligibility for targeted therapies, such as anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies.
The installation forms part of HDFT’s broader adoption of AI tools across clinical specialities. The Trust plans to expand the digital scanning system to analyse additional predictive biomarkers across other tumour types, including lung cancer.
“This project has been a labour of love and will make a real difference for patients by delivering results more quickly and supporting faster treatment decisions,” said Philippa Bleasdale, histology section manager at HDFT. “While this technology will initially be used to improve the pathway for breast cancer patients, in the future it is hoped it can be used to assist with the interpretation of other biomarkers for different cancers, such as lung cancer.”
Spire Hull and East Riding Hospital lands NHS Elective Surgical Hub accreditation
Spire Hull and East Riding Hospital has been accredited as an Elective Surgical Hub by NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme. The facility is one of the first two independent sector providers – alongside Ramsay Health Care’s Tees Valley Hospital – to achieve the national quality mark.
The GIRFT accreditation scheme, run in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons and supported by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, evaluates surgical hubs against a defined set of clinical and operational standards. The framework aims to increase surgical capacity, streamline patient pathways, increase same-day discharge rates and reduce elective waiting lists and readmission rates across the NHS.
As part of cohort 12 of the scheme, 14 hubs were accredited. In its assessment, the GIRFT panel highlighted Spire Hull and East Riding’s multidisciplinary team working, organised elective care model and effective partnership with the NHS to deliver both private and NHS surgical care.
“The whole hospital team is proud to receive this important recognition which is testament to our focus on delivering outstanding patient care and our partnership with the NHS to increase surgical capacity and reduce waiting lists,” said Sarah Dickinson, hospital director at Spire Hull and East Riding Hospital.
Aurora Cannabis moves into the UK
Canadian medical cannabis company Aurora Cannabis has acquired UK-based Internode Pharma Limited and HAP Pharma for £2.1 million in cash. The transaction grants Aurora direct ownership and control of its UK supply chain from cultivation through to patient delivery.
Internode Pharma operates as a licensed importer and wholesaler, while HAP Pharma functions as a licensed virtual pharmacy based in Birmingham. Together, the companies provide a licensed distribution and dispensing infrastructure designed to supply medical cannabis to patients across the country.
The acquisition aims to reduce reliance on third-party distributors, improve supply chain reliability, and support market share expansion. Aurora expects the transaction to be accretive to its adjusted EBITDA in future quarters.
“The acquisition of Internode Pharma Limited and HAP Pharma marks a further strategic milestone for Aurora as we continue to invest in expanding our leadership in the rapidly growing international medical cannabis market,” said Aurora’s executive chairman and chief executive Miguel Martin. “Given the growing patient demand, strong acceptance of our products and increasingly prescriptive regulatory standards, the UK represents an exciting opportunity for us.”
Psyomics secures place on G-Cloud 15 framework
Digital mental health company Psyomics has been awarded a place as a supplier on the government’s G-Cloud 15 framework. The inclusion provides NHS trusts and public sector bodies with a direct procurement pathway to deploy Psyomics’ digital front-door technology, beseen.
The G-Cloud 15 framework represents an estimated £14 billion in public-sector cloud technology opportunities. By accessing the pre-vetted framework, eligible healthcare organisations can bypass traditional, lengthy tendering processes to accelerate the implementation of cloud-based clinical tools.
Psyomics’ platform operates across adult community mental health, children and young people’s services, neurodevelopmental pathways, addictions, and NHS Talking Therapies. The software captures structured, self-reported patient information before clinical consultations, generating clinical decision-support reports to streamline triage, diagnostic assessment and care coordination.
“Securing a place on G-Cloud 15 is an important milestone for Psyomics, but more importantly it makes it easier for NHS and public-sector organisations to access our technology,” said Melinda Rees, chief executive officer of Psyomics. “We want more mental health services to be able to access technology that can support their teams, improve how patients move through care and ultimately help deliver better mental health services.”
Welbeck launches male fertility hub
Welbeck Urology & Men’s Health in Marylebone, London, has established a new Male Fertility Hub designed to streamline the assessment and treatment of male factor fertility issues under one roof. The integrated hub brings together urological surgeons specialising in andrology alongside endocrinologists to eliminate referral delays between diagnostic evaluations and clinical interventions.
The service provides a continuous care pathway starting with semen analysis, hormone testing, advanced imaging and physical exams, leading to surgical procedures such as vasectomy reversal, varicocele repair and sperm retrieval techniques including PESA (percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration) and micro-TESE (microscopic testicular sperm extraction).
Alongside the fertility facility, Welbeck has introduced Perovial, a newly licensed injectable therapy containing hyaluronic acid to treat the acute phase of Peyronie’s disease. Administered via intralesional injections directly into affected tissue during an outpatient procedure, the treatment works to reduce inflammation and soften fibrotic plaque before the condition progresses to a chronic, harder-to-treat stage.
“Around 30% of fertility issues sit purely with the male,” said Asif Muneer, andrology lead at the British Fertility Society and consultant at Welbeck Urology & Men’s Health. “Yet the pathway for investigation and treatment has traditionally been built around women. Bringing every stage, from semen analysis through to surgical treatment, into one building means men no longer have to wait weeks between each step to get an answer.”
Practice Plus Group Hospitals releases 2026 Quality Report
Practice Plus Group Hospitals has published its 2026 Quality Report, detailing its clinical performance, patient safety metrics and expansion across NHS elective pathways and private healthcare services. The report is the organisation’s first annual performance review since its acquisition by global healthcare provider Narayana Health last year.
Between April 2025 and March this year, the provider delivered over 130,000 day-case and inpatient surgical procedures and completed 280,000 outpatient consultations across its network of 12 hospitals, surgical centres, diagnostic units, and urgent care facilities. During the reporting period, Practice Plus Group maintained zero reported cases of Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections and achieved a 95.9% compliance rate for venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessments, which exceeds NHS national benchmarks.
Additionally, all 12 hospital facilities retained Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings of “Good” or “Outstanding” with no enforcement actions, while every hospital secured National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider status for orthopaedic outcomes and data governance.
“This report demonstrates that quality, productivity and patient experience can go hand in hand,” said Marcelle Michail, chief medical officer and responsible officer at Practice Plus Group Hospitals. “Joining Narayana Health marks an exciting new chapter for our organisation. By combining international expertise with our established UK services, we are creating new opportunities to innovate, enhance patient safety, embrace digital transformation and continue delivering outstanding care at scale.”
Bupa introduces DNA-led preventative care pathways
Private healthcare provider Bupa will launch genomic “Prevention Pathways” at the beginning of September, making it the first major UK private medical insurer to include DNA-led risk profiling and preventative treatment within standard health cover.
The service targets early detection and prevention of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Bupa believes that 200,000 policyholders will use the pathways by the end of next year. This includes an estimated 36,000 individuals entering the breast cancer pathway – which tests for high-risk genetic variants such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 – and over 95,000 people entering the cardiovascular and diabetes pathways.
For customers identified as high risk, the pathways cover proactive clinical interventions, including preventative medications such as Tamoxifen, risk-reducing surgeries like prophylactic mastectomy, GP appointments, lifestyle coaching, and up to £400 in funding toward Bupa’s Weight Management Plan and GLP-1 anti-obesity therapies.
The initiative builds on Bupa’s pharmacogenomics service, Medication Check, launched in June to optimise prescription prescribing, as well as its direct-to-consumer DNA Health Check which uses polygenic risk scores (PRS).
“By using modern innovation to truly understand a person’s DNA, these pathways fundamentally change how we approach healthcare,” said Rebecca Rohrer, clinical innovation and genomics director at Bupa. “Where someone is at a genetically increased risk of serious disease, we’re now able to support them in taking early, informed action, potentially years before symptoms appear.”
