In this issue

With vaccination programmes gathering speed in the UK, the nation has begun to look ahead at ways to reopen the country after a lengthy period of lockdown restrictions. One potential tool currently being debated is the use of digital vaccine passports. These ‘passports’ would act as an official document to denote whether or not the owner has received one or both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

While the concept has been touted as a low-risk way to reintroduce mass gathering events and inject life into the tourism sector, the idea of legally enforcing such a document is extremely controversial. To understand why, we explore both sides of the debate.

Sticking with apps, we unpack research from healthcare app review company Orcha, which found that 80% of healthcare apps used by NHS trusts do not meet the necessary standards, to examine what can be done to ensure the NHS is only using the safest and most effective healthcare apps.

Elsewhere in this issue, we take a look back over a century of orthopaedic device innovation as DePuy Synthes celebrates its 125th anniversary, ask if big data could help manufacturers and regulators predict future medical device recalls, and investigate the limits of the pulse oximeter.

For all this, plus the latest insight and analysis from GlobalData, read on.

Eloise Mclennan, editor