Child Health Tech Conference 2025

# RCPCH Incubator
            
            ### NIHR HRC Child Health Tech Conference 2025
            ### 11-12 June 2025

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# DR MARCUS BAW
            ### 'GENERAL HACKTITIONER'
            ### OPEN SOURCE CAMPAIGNER
            ### SOFTWARE DEVELOPER @ RCPCH INCUBATOR
            ### PAST CHAIR @ RCGP HEALTH INFORMATICS GROUP

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### HEALTH TECHNOLOGY HAS A **PROBLEM**
            #### DESPITE HUGE SPENDING, WE HAVE POOR QUALITY SOLUTIONS 
            #### TOO MANY 'APPS', NOT ENOUGH INFRASTRUCTURE 
            #### GRASSROOTS INNOVATION IS DISCOURAGED BY NHS IT 
            #### 'SNAKE OIL' SOLUTIONS OVERPROMISING AND UNDERDELIVERING 
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![](images/why-doctors-hate-their-computers.png "A magazine article titled WHY DOCTORS HATE THEIR COMPUTERS from The New Yorker. The subtitle reads Digitization promises to make medical care easier and more efficient. But are screens coming between doctors and patients. The byline is By Atul Gawande, November 5, 2018. The layout is clean and modern with a calm, neutral tone. No people are visible in this section of the article. The overall mood is thoughtful and analytical, focusing on challenges in healthcare technology.")

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### CHILD HEALTH TECHNOLOGY HAS A WORSE PROBLEM
            #### FEATURES FOR PAEDIATRIC PATIENTS ARE NOT A SUPPLIER PRIORITY 
            #### 5% OF THE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES MARKET (BUT 25% OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION) 
            #### PAEDIATRICIANS JUST ONE OF MANY COMPETING FOR RESOURCES

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### WE HAVE TO FIRST ASK WHY 
            #### SUPPLIERS 
            #### NHS 
            #### MONEY

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# SUPPLIERS
            ---
            #### PAEDIATRIC FEATURES ARE A LOW PRIORITY 
            #### WHY PAY HUNDREDS OF SUPPLIERS TO BUILD THE SAME FEATURES OVER AND OVER 
            #### RISK AVERSION AMONG SUPPLIERS MEANS THEY MAY AVOID PAEDIATRIC FEATURES 
            #### 'MEDICAL DEVICE FEAR' STOPS SUPPLIERS BUILDING THE BOLD TECHNOLOGY WE NEED 
            #### PAEDIATRICS IS A TINY MARKET IN A TINY MARKET (THE NHS) 
            ---
            ![EMIS](images/growth-charts-emis.png)
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            ![SystmOne](images/growth-charts-systmone.png)
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            ![Vision](images/growth-charts-vision.png)
            ---
            ![RCPCH DGC](images/rcpch-dgc-screenshot-male-traditionalcolours-examplemeasurements.png)
            
            
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# NHS
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            ## WHY DOESN'T "THE NHS" BUILD THE TECH WE NEED?
            #### THERE IS NO SINGLE "NHS" ORGANISATION 
            #### THE NHS IS TOO BUSY BEING REORGANISED 
            #### NHS CENTRALLY HAS A "CAN'T DO" ATTITUDE TO TECH, PREFERRING OUTSOURCING 
            #### NHS IS THE SECOND LARGEST EMPLOYER IN THE WORLD, BUT LEADERS THINK SMALL 
            #### NHS STRATEGY IS DOMINATED BY CONSULTANCY GROUPTHINK 
            ---
            ### MAJOR NHS REORGANISATIONS OCCUR EVERY 2-3 YEARS
            ![](images/nhs-lava-lamps-populated-svg.png "Bright orange lava lamp background with several yellow-orange blobs, each labeled with different NHS organizations. The blobs contain the following text: NHS Anywhere Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS England, NHS Digital, NHS X, Public Health England, Integrated Care Boards, NHS Improvement, Health Education England. The overall tone suggests that nobody in charge of the structure of the NHS has the slightest clue what the fuck they are doing.")
            ---
            ## THERE HAVE BEEN 14 SECRETARIES OF STATE FOR HEALTH SINCE 1997
                   
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# MONEY
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            ### NHS DOESN'T THINK BIG ENOUGH TO SPEND SMALL 
            ### NON-PROFITS STRUGGLE TO FIND FUNDING 
            ### SUPPLIERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO 'JUSTIFY ROI' ON PAEDIATRIC FEATURES 
            ### ALTERNATIVE FUNDING OPTIONS EXIST! 
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# RCPCH        
            ---
            ### BRITISH PAEDIATRIC ASSOCIATION (EST. 1929)
            ![](images/rcpch-004-001-031_second_bpa_meeting_buxton_1929_copy_0.jpg "The second meeting of the British Paediatric Association, Buxton 1929 - Large group of men in suits posed for a formal group photograph outside a brick building with arched windows and bare trees. The men are seated and standing in several rows, facing the camera. The setting appears to be a hotel garden or courtyard. At the bottom of the image, handwritten text reads: British Paediatric Association Palace Hotel Buxton April 26 and 27 1929. The mood is serious and professional, reflecting an important historical gathering.")
            ---
            ### ROYAL COLLEGE OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH
            ### (EST. 1997) 
            ![RCPCH Logo](https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/themes/rcpch/rcpch-full-logo.png)
            ---
            # RCPCH
            ## ONE REORGANISATION IN LAST 95 YEARS 
            ### FOCUSED ENTIRELY ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 
            ### GLOBAL REACH 
            ### CHARITABLE STRUCTURE 
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### PROPRIETARY MEDICAL INNOVATIONS GONE BAD
            ![](images/Chamberlen_forceps_(Malden_found_1813)_in_K._DAS_after_Kilian.jpg "Antique medical forceps displayed on a plain background. The forceps are long, metallic, and slightly curved, with rounded ends designed for grasping.") 
            ---
            ### PROPRIETARY INNOVATION PUTS PROFIT OVER PATIENTS 
            ### RESTRICTING ACCESS TO LIFE-SAVING TECHNOLOGY IS UNETHICAL 
            # HEALTH INNOVATION MUST BE OPEN SOURCE 
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## INTRODUCING THE RCPCH INCUBATOR
            ![](images/RCPCH-Incubator-ID.png "Purple logo featuring a stylized incubator with a heart shape in the center. The text reads RCPCH Incubator. The design is modern and clean, set against a plain background. The overall tone is welcoming and innovative, suggesting support and nurturing in a healthcare or technology context.") 
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            # THE RCPCH INCUBATOR
            ## "ROYAL COLLEGES 3.0" 
            ## BEST PRACTICE AS CODE 
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            ## RCPCH INCUBATOR PROJECTS
            ##### [(LIVE) Digital Growth Charts API](https://growth.rcpch.ac.uk/)  
            ##### [(LIVE) Epilepsy12 Audit Platform](https://e12.rcpch.ac.uk/)  
            ##### [(LIVE) National Paediatric Diabetes Audit Platform](https://npda.rcpch.ac.uk/account/login/?next=/account/two_factor/setup/)  
            ##### [(BETA) NIHR MindTheGap Transition Community of Practice](https://mindthegap-transition.org/)  
            ##### [(ALPHA) LivingLens Social Determinants of Health App](https://npda.rcpch.ac.uk/account/login/?next=/account/two_factor/setup/)  
            ##### AND MORE PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE... 
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            ## THE RCPCH INCUBATOR
            ###### We exist to help create affordable and effective technology solutions to real world child health problems.
            ##### FOCUSED ON THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR CLINICIANS 
            ##### BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE 
            ##### SUSTAINABLE AND NON-PROFIT 
            ##### EVERYTHING OPEN SOURCE 
            ##### ETHICAL AND TRANSPARENT 
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## FURTHER READING

### [Hacking Child HealthTech 2025 Report](https://io.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hacking-Child-HealthTech-2025-Report.pdf)
            ### [Open Source Is The Only Way For Medicine](https://bawmedical.co.uk/t/open-source-is-the-only-way-for-medicine/80)
            ### [Royal Colleges 3.0](https://bawmedical.co.uk/t/royal-colleges-3-0-best-practice-as-code/203)
            ### [RCPCH GitHub](https://github.com/RCPCH)
            ### [Incubator Forum](https://forum.rcpch.tech/)

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            ### THESE SLIDES
            ### [SOURCE CODE](https://github.com/pacharanero/2025-rcpch-incubator-child-health-tech-conference) | [VIEW ONLINE](https://pacharanero.github.io/2025-rcpch-incubator-child-health-tech-conference/)
            ![qrcode](images/qrcode.png) 
            
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