Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB has awarded a contract with a total value of £206,692 to getUBetter for a digital MSK self-management platform.
The platform is intended to support patients across primary, secondary, and community care in the region with common MSK injuries and conditions. Patients may be directed to the app at any point in the MSK management pathway, for help to self-manage their recovery and general health.
getUBetter is a Class 1 medical device and is DTAC certified, the ICB notes, with the platform having been locally configured to the ICB MSK pathway.
The contract has been awarded for two years, with an option to extend dependent on available funding.
Last month, the Bristol NHS Group, a partnership between North Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston, published a Group Clinical Strategy update, focusing on delivering joined-up clinical services, reframing how services are delivered, and reimagining the future of care. The first priority for single leadership teams within group clinical services is setting out a clear picture of what challenges they face across digital, workforce, finance, and estates, the group notes, and enabling strategies such as for digital services, are in development to offer the foundation for long-term progress.
Wider trend: Innovation across the NHS
The digital eye care programme is continuing to be rolled out across Wales, with the Welsh Government issuing an update on its current status by health board for the OpenEyes national EPR and OPERAi national electronic referral system for eye care. All health boards have now implemented both systems either in full or in part, the government states, promoting real-time sharing of clinical information, along with consistency in national referral and triage processes.
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has shared learnings and outcomes from its £21.1 million Time to Care project, citing “substantial progress” in delivering a new engagement-led operating model along with “meaningful cultural change” across services. Key achievements, the trust notes, include establishing a new operating model in inpatient and urgent care services built around purposeful admission, therapeutic care, trauma-informed care, and safe and effective discharge; embedding co-production with the help of lived experience ambassadors; and the successful recruitment of 333.7 WTE roles to strengthen inpatient MDT team capacity and introduce new roles such as peer support workers and activity coordinators.
A new volunteer responder app has been piloted in 46 Community First Responder schemes across Scotland, with outcomes including a “significant boost” to community emergency response, the Scottish Ambulance Service has shared, supporting plans for national roll-out in June 2026. The pilot, which ran from November 2025 to February 2026, reportedly resulted in a 36 percent increase in volunteer response to incidents, translating to 786 more patients receiving assistance over the four-month period. 23 percent of volunteers logged longer hours over the pilot period, and improvements in response times were also observed, which the ambulance service puts down to the app’s “more accurate” geographical information.
