AusHealthIT Poll Number 773 – Results – 17 November 2024.

Here are the results of the poll.

Overall Is The Return Of Donald Trump To The White House A Good Or Bad Thing?

A Good Thing                                                              1 (3%)

A Bad Thing                                                              39 (97%)

I Have No Idea                                                           0 (0%)

Total No. Of Votes: 40

A very clear vote with Trump not much favoured here in OZ apparently!

Any insights on the poll are welcome, as a comment, as usual!

Good voting turnout. 

0 of 40 who answered the poll admitted to not being sure about the answer to the question!

Again, many, many special thanks to all those who voted! 

David.

I Think I Said At The Time This Was A Silly Idea. So It Has Proven!

This appeared last week:

08 November 2024

Medical Costs Finder Stagnated, but we’re working on it: DoHAC

By

Laura Woodrow

The $24.2 million project has copped a lot of flak for its poor engagement from doctors. But the department is holding fast that it’s an asset, reaching one million users.

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Medical Costs Finder has reached the one million users milestone. But are those users getting any value from the $24.2 million service?

Speaking at Senate Estimates yesterday, the assistant secretary of DoHAC’s health system strategy division Brian Kelleher said the number of people who had visited the website had reached one million, with approximately 60,000 new users a month.

The number of doctors registered remains lacklustre – albeit improved – at 218, with only 73 choosing to publish their costs.

The cost for the website remains a whopping $24.2 million.

Independent Senator for the ACT David Polcock queried how the department was measuring the site’s success.

First assistant secretary for health systems strategy Ross Hawkins said a key success measure was people visiting the website.

Mr Hawkins said 70% of consumers supported the concept of an independent and authoritative website about costs.

When asked whether they had data on whether anyone was actually exploring the website, via bounce rates, for example, Mr Hawkins said they would have to look into their analytics data.

“The feedback we’re getting is that people find having median costs useful,” he said.

“[I] appreciate that the number of specialists [registered] is lower than anticipated, but actually in terms of providing those median prices across 1300 different services, giving people an idea of what that’s like locally, giving them indications around the patient journey, out of pocket costs, it’s a useful tool that people engage with.

“Broadly from the indicators, we see around 60,000 new users tipping in over a total of one million users to date and feedback we’re getting from consumer groups, it’s coming across to us as [a] positive experience engaging with the website.

“But again, we’re always happy to work with groups and take feedback and further refine the experience.”

When asked about the possibility of publishing specialist costs without voluntary doctor registration, Mr Kelleher said this was not the path chosen by the department.

“The numbers are low … but we proceeded down the path of engaging with medical specialists on a voluntary basis, and that was a decision that the government took at the time,” he said.

“The department does not generally publish highly disaggregated fee information for medical benefit services.

“That’s why, at this point in time, information on the website is delivered at an aggregate level.”

Minister for Finance, Women, and the Public Service Katy Gallagher said the department had been engaging with the health minister about how to strengthen the website.

“It was started, and then nothing, [or] very little, was done,” she said.

“Minister Butler is keen to make sure it’s providing as useful a service as it can.

“But the reality in health is you do need to work collaboratively with all stakeholders if you’re going to make something a success. It’s simply the reality of the health system.

“And so that does mean working with specialists, doctors and consumer groups to make sure it’s doing what it needs to do.

“But our view is more transparent, more access to information, the better, and the minister’s working on that.”

Here is the link:

https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/medical-costs-finder-stagnated-but-were-working-on-it-dohac/112347?utm_source=MC-TMR%20List

Can you please explain to me why a doctor would publicize what he charges for a surgical procedure via a Government web site. There is no reason I can think of unless they want to discourage patients or some other reason even more obscure!

Other ideas welcome!

David.

It Looks Like We Are Not Processing New Drug Applications Promptly, As We Should

This appeared last week:

Health officials warn of ‘practical limitations’ to medicine subsidies despite ‘triage’

James Dowling

November 08 2024

Questions from the opposition have detailed the timing and policy of a recent controversial delay to the consideration of new drug subsidies.

Fears of ongoing delays to critical new medicine subsidies have been stoked by a Health Department admission that its independent drug assessor will continue to place a “maximum number” on submissions considered at its meetings, despite Health Minister Mark Butler calling an emergency meeting over the decision to indefinitely delay 45 medications.

It has now emerged that Mr Butler knew of the unprecedented decision for almost a month before the crisis became public.

A group of Health Department officials led by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was questioned on Thursday at Senate estimates over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee’s unprecedented decision to delay the medication recommendations in response to excessive submissions.

The announcement was quickly followed by departmental efforts to “triage” the delay, and the introduction of an additional PBAC meeting to work through the deferred submissions.

However, Senator Gallagher told the panel on Thursday the PBAC would continue to grapple with “finite resources and time”.

“I think you also need to accept the reality of the fact that there is only so much that one PBAC meeting can do,” Senator Gallagher said.

“If you get double the amount of submissions or whatever it is close to that, including complex submissions, there is finite resources and time to deal with that.

“It’s not a mass deferral. There is triaging under way so that a reasonable amount, or the most that can be done at March’s meeting can be done, and then an extra meeting can deal with the other submissions.”

On November 4, Mr Butler first confirmed he was concerned with the response of his assessor, and directed his department “to urgently engage with (industry body) Medicines Australia to examine all potential solutions”. By November 6 he confirmed an additional PBAC meeting for May 2025.

Despite this, documents tabled by the Health Department following questions on notice indicate he was informed of the excessive PBAC demand much earlier, on October 9.

According to the timeline provided by the Health Department, Mr Butler directed his department to inform Medicines Australia of the problem that day, before contacting independent evaluators on October 11 to determine whether they could meet the workload.

An October 16 PBAC triage meeting was held to determine which submissions would be deferred. Less than a week later, Medicines Australia and the relevant applicants were informed of the decision to hold back some submissions.

On October 23, those same applicants were issued invoices despite the delay to services.

The public was made aware of the change in process on October 30.

Since the announcement, health officials have contended there is no intention to defer future submissions, but confirmed in estimates there were internal processes changed in response to the excessive applications.

Health Department deputy secretary Duncan McIntyre said the new submission limit would not be “a hard and fast number”, as staff indicated the measure was not intended to prevent their scaling up of evaluator capacity.

Health resourcing deputy secretary Penny Shakespeare said in estimates there were “practical limitations to what can actually be considered by our external contracted evaluators in future”, while economist Blair Comley called the measure a “way we can practically work through this unprecedented spike”.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston, who initially levied the questions at estimates, told The Weekend Australian Mr Butler had dodged responsibility for the debacle.

“The department has belled the cat and admitted that there is an ongoing cap on the number of medicines that can be considered for listing on the PBS under the Albanese government,” Senator Ruston said.

“After deflections and denial from the department and the government, we now have worrying confirmation that there could be ongoing delays in patients’ access to essential new medicines.

“This is the first time in the history of the PBS that a cap of this nature has been put in place.

“The Minister for Health must clarify whether he agreed to this cap being put in place, and whether he will guarantee its immediate removal.”

A spokesperson for Mr Butler said the Health Department was “ensuring patients get access to life-changing medications and treatments as quickly as possible”.

Former Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme chief and Better Access Australia chair Felicity McNeill said calling a May 2025 PBAC meeting amounted to an “acknowledgment” of a “breach of the community’s trust”.

“The PBAC is his committee and the community needs him to lead on this issue now and moving forward,” Ms McNeill said.

“The fight is not over until this is all resolved, but seeing the system start to move is a great first step.”

Ms McNeill argued the government response still lacked transparency given a list of delayed medicines had not been made publicly available.

Parliamentary documents indicated the number of submissions to be considered across March and May had reduced from 77 to 63 since the announcement of deferrals.

Here is the link:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health-officials-warn-of-practical-limitations-to-medicine-subsidies-despite-triage/news-story/1b9cbcb73c102179df7f10eaa6cbd0a7

I guess it is just bad luck if the drug you need is having its approval slowed for no better than bureaucratic delay and slowness. I hope there is some sort of feedback possible from societies that assist various categories of disease sufferers to speed things up!

A bit of a pity if you die because of bureaucratic delay!

David.

Vapes Are Loose All Over, Despite The Government’s Plan To Regulate Them!

This appeared last week:

About 1 million Australians use vapes. Chemists dispensed them just 3500 times last month

By Natassia Chrysanthos

November 9, 2024 — 4.45pm

Vapes were dispensed behind-the-counter at pharmacies just 3500 times during the first month of the federal government’s scheme to weed out the black market by making them chemist products, despite an estimated 1 million Australians using the devices.

Data supplied to Senate estimates reveals the uptake of pharmacy vape prescriptions was slow in October, the first month that e-cigarettes could be bought after a consultation with a chemist under Health Minister Mark Butler’s vaping crackdown.

With about 5800 pharmacies across the country, the data suggests thousands of them would not have prescribed a single vape product.

The government’s initial policy analysis assumed about 450,000 people a year would seek out medical vape products once illicit products became harder to get.

But many pharmacists say they are holding back from selling vapes on ethical grounds or because the process is too onerous. Illegal vapes are still widely available but have surged to between $40 and $60 a device as retailers bump up prices to compensate for higher penalties.

Health Department officials quizzed at Senate estimates last week said they were not keeping track of how many pharmacies were selling vapes at present. “It is actually quite difficult to get clear answers on that,” said Chief Medical Officer Tony Lawler.

Department official Chris Bedford provided data on the number of times vaping products had been dispensed by pharmacists after a patient consultation.

“There’s been 3500 of those across Australia ... The pharmacist could dispense more than one vaping good per notification, so the patient would go in and have the conversation,” Bedford said.

But the Health Department does not count how many vapes are sold with a doctor or nurse practitioner prescription – the other avenue that people can use to buy vapes legally.

Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said it was astounding that the department did not know how many pharmacies were selling vapes “when this is a key component of the government’s policy”.

“The number of vapes dispensed by a pharmacist last month represents a negligible percentage of the estimated vapers in Australia,” Ruston said. “We know that the majority of pharmacists do not want to become tobacconists, and this is clearly represented in the department’s figures.”

No vape products have been listed on Australia’s register of therapeutic goods, meaning pharmacists have to prescribe and sell unapproved products. A spokeswoman from the Pharmacy Guild, which represents business owners, said this made pharmacists reluctant to supply them.

”There is limited evidence of their long-term safety or effectiveness in supporting long-term smoking cessation,” the spokeswoman said.

The pharmacy sector has pointed to anecdotal data indicating levels of uptake in lieu of official figures. An Australian Journal of Pharmacy reader survey found 86 per cent were not stocking vapes.

The Health Department told Senate estimates that about 1000 pharmacists took part in an information session run by the Australian Pharmaceutical Society in September to learn more; at the same time, a Pharmacy Guild poster advising patients that a chemist does not stock vapes has been downloaded more than 2000 times.

Richard Lee, chief executive of Liber Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures one of Australia’s main pharmacy vape products, said Butler’s pharmacy scheme had gotten off to a slow but reasonable start.

He said part of the reason for the slow uptake was that guidelines from the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Pharmaceutical Society of Australia had been released only in the days before the new scheme launched, on October 1.

“Nobody had time to process the changes to the framework or put operating procedures in place in time,” he said. “Most pharmacies are saying, ‘We’re in, but we’re not in yet’, because they take their responsibilities seriously and don’t want to get it wrong.”

Lee anticipated a significant uptake as pharmacies absorbed the changes and understood what they needed to do. “But it’s going to take three to six months,” he said.

Butler said his laws were unapologetically focused on protecting young Australians. “Vape stores around the country are closing, and importantly, young Australians are saying they are finding it harder to purchase vapes,” he said.

“The national laws set a strong and uniform baseline across the country that stamps out recreational vaping, particularly for young Australians, while allowing access for hardened smokers who want to kick the habit.”

Here is the link:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-has-about-1-million-vapers-chemists-consulted-them-just-3500-times-last-month-20241108-p5kp1g.html

This rather looks like a policy mess to me.

I wonder will we get a report in a few months letting us all know just how the regulations are working?  I suspect then we will see much higher usage than expected.

As for illegal sales – will be very interesting to see how they go over the next six months.

Watch this space!

David.

My One Post On The Horror Of The Election Outcome In The USA.

This appeared a day or so ago:

The billionaires in charge of Trump’s White House

His first term was heavily reliant on the party establishment. The inner circle now includes billionaires and is in tune with the ideas of the new right.

Alex Rogers and James Politi

Updated Nov 10, 2024 – 9.13am, first published at 8.27am

Nibbling on crabs, sushi and sugar cookies, some of the richest and the soon-to-be most powerful people in the world waited for the election results last week at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s gilded fortress on the sea.

At one of the tables, Trump sat with Elon Musk, the billionaire technology executive, and Dana White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Hours before the final outcome was established, Musk decided to call the whole race. “Game, set and match,” he posted on X, the platform he owns, to his 200 million followers, at 10.32pm.

The next day, after it was confirmed that the Republican had defeated Kamala Harris, Trump and Musk ate together on the terrace of the resort, with Musk wearing a T-shirt of astronauts walking on the moon with Mars in the distance.

“Novus Ordo Seclorum,” Musk wrote on X, the Latin expression for “a new era is born”.

Amid the jubilant scenes at Mar-a-Lago, there were plenty of signs about how a second Trump presidency might be different from the first one — and, in particular, just how changed his new inner circle will be.

The 78-year-old Republican appears to be even more influenced by his billionaire donors and allies than he was during his first term in office — particularly Musk. He is also more willing to embrace the ideology of the politically ascendant new American right, and more determined to press ahead with his aggressive agenda from his very first day in office.

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Eight years ago, Trump was forced to lean on the Republican establishment for counsel: this time, the group of individuals who have his ear are largely MAGA loyalists, ranging from his vice-president-elect J.D. Vance and his eldest son Don Jr to a circle of wealthy allies pitching for plum jobs in the administration.

On Thursday (Friday AEDT), Trump made his first big personnel announcement, tapping Susie Wiles, his top campaign strategist and a longtime political operative in Florida, to be the next White House chief of staff.

It marks the opening move in what is expected to be a flurry of personnel announcements over the coming week that will reveal Trump’s team, including his cabinet, as he prepares to move back into the White House on January 20.

Trump’s goal will be to quickly implement policies ranging from the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants to sweeping tax cuts and across-the-board tariffs on imports that he promised on the campaign trail, along with exacting retribution against his political opponents.

At this stage in 2016, after defeating Hillary Clinton, many in Trump’s entourage were political novices who were unprepared for the task of building a new government. Trump eventually turned to his then vice-president-elect, Mike Pence — a former governor and member of Congress with deep roots in the Republican Party — to run his transition operation.

He also tapped Reince Priebus to be chief of staff, Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary and Rex Tillerson for secretary of state — all figures who were palatable to traditional business groups and the national security apparatus, but whom he did not know particularly well.

Trump has come to regret those choices for restraining the populist agenda he really wanted to pursue and has been desperate to avoid that scenario again.

“It was a free-for-all. Nobody expected Trump to win,” says John Feehery, Republican former congressional aide now at EFB Advocacy, a consultancy, about the aftermath of the 2016 election.

“People are now understanding that instead of pursuing their own visions, they’re trying to pursue Trump’s vision.”

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It is not unusual for chief executives and business leaders to have close access to politicians, especially during a campaign, but Musk’s proximity to Trump has been especially remarkable — and a sign that the next administration may have a distinctively plutocratic element to it.

Musk publicly endorsed Trump, bankrolled a Super Pac that spent $US172 million ($261 million) on the 2024 election, hosted him on X for a lengthy conversation, and canvassed the crucial state of Pennsylvania, which ended up flipping to Trump.

In return, Trump has said he will appoint the Tesla and SpaceX chief to a commission that will roll back regulations and drastically cut government spending. Musk has said the election is crucial for his vision of colonising Mars.

“He actually helped Trump get elected. He got his fingernails dirty and got it done,” says Feehery. “The level of his work . . . gives him tons of loyalty from Trump.”

Their alliance carries big risks in terms of potential conflicts of interest, which Trump allies deny, as well as potential disagreements down the line over policy. But, for now, it seems to be suiting both men.

There are other top executives in Trump’s new orbit. Two billionaires are chairing his transition team. Personnel is being led by Howard Lutnick, the long-standing boss of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services firm that lost hundreds of employees in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Lutnick is an old friend of Trump and even once appeared on The Apprentice.

The transition’s policy programme is being led by Linda McMahon, the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment who is also chair of the America First Policy Institute, a think-tank that has been trying to develop an agenda to support Trump’s ideas.

Both are considered potential cabinet picks — Lutnick for treasury and McMahon for commerce — after writing multimillion dollar cheques to the campaign. But other top billionaires in the inner circle are also angling: hedge fund managers John Paulson and Scott Bessent, who was in Palm Beach wearing a pro-Trump pin on his lapel this week, are also in contention for Treasury.

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The Trump family will remain influential in the new administration, but this time with a more MAGA flavour.

In 2016, Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner took on senior White House positions. Kushner, who was a Democrat when he was younger, was considered by some foreign governments to be one of the more pragmatic people to deal with amid the chaos of the first Trump term. But neither Ivanka Trump nor Kushner are expected to join this administration.

Now we know who the real players are, the people who will actually deliver on the president’s message, the people who don’t think that they know better

The most influential family member this year has been Donald Trump Jr, the 46-year-old eldest child. He played an important role in persuading his father to back Vance, the Ohio senator, to be his running mate, and he was one of the voices pushing for Trump to engage more with podcasts popular among young men.

Trump Jr also helped build the campaign’s relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr — the scion of the Democrats’ most famous family who was at one stage running a third-party bid for the presidency, before swinging behind Trump. During the campaign, donors got the chance to win a day of falconry together with the two men. “A true Renaissance man,” Trump Jr described Kennedy.

“He got his fingernails dirty and got it done. The level of his work . . . gives him tons of loyalty from Trump.”

— John Feehery, Republican former congressional aide, on Elon Musk

Trump Jr has not always appeared to be his father’s favourite. But more than any other family member, he has been an energetic champion of the new right, including on his own podcast.

Although he appears to have little appetite for taking a formal position in the administration, he intends to play an important role in the transition, policing potential appointments for their loyalty. Before the election, he talked about the need to create a “MAGA bench” of potential officials and keeping “bad actors” out of the administration, as he believes happened in 2016.

“Now we know who the real players are, the people who will actually deliver on the president’s message, the people who don’t think that they know better than the duly elected president of the United States,” he told Fox and Friends this week. “I want to make sure that those people are in this administration.”

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Vance, 40, will also play an influential role in setting the direction of the White House. As the youngest vice-president since Richard Nixon served in the role seven decades ago, he is in prime position to shape the future of the Republican Party.

He has risen from poverty to become a senator, picking up along the way a Yale Law School diploma, four years in the Marines, Silicon Valley venture capitalist experience under Peter Thiel and a best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy. He has also helped overturn the GOP’s old country club image.

“We won’t cater to Wall Street. We’ll commit to the working man,” Vance said at the Republican Party’s convention this northern summer.

A person close to Vance said that tech and immigration were two core policy interests; he told the Financial Times in August that Google “ought to be broken up”, but Trump later questioned whether that would be going too far.

According to Oren Cass, chief economist at the think-tank American Compass and also an FT contributing editor, “Vance has been an integral leader within the new right since its formative stages.”

In August, Trump added Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard — another Democrat turned Trump supporter — to his transition team. Both were at Mar-a-Lago this week, but it was unclear what kind of role they would get. Kennedy is in “meeting after meeting after meeting. And he dislikes meetings,” says a person close to the Trump campaign.

But Kennedy has been speaking to reporters about potential roles in the new administration in the areas of health and science, vowing to review research on vaccines and calling for the elimination of fluoride from drinking water.

Many of the candidates for top jobs have been present in Palm Beach this week. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a potential pick for energy secretary, was standing right in front of the stage at the victory rally on election night, while former acting national intelligence director Ric Grenell and Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty — rumoured as top State Department picks — were also spotted around town.

Amid the speculation, there is little tolerance for anyone who criticised Trump in the past. Trump adviser Tim Murtaugh says former staffers who turned against Trump are “trying to figure out how to pivot for their own professional betterment”. He adds: “We’re all aware of who those people are.”

Even the wealthiest Palm Beach locals worry about the impact of all the well-to-do people coming to pitch for positions.

Thomas Peterffy, the billionaire chair of Interactive Brokers and a Trump donor, who lives two minutes from Mar-a-Lago, laments that his neighbour’s victory will increase road closures on the island.

“I remember, eight years ago, after he got elected, people kept coming and going because he was constantly interviewing people for ambassadorships and various cabinet positions,” says Peterffy. “So, this traffic jam is going to go on for a while.”

Financial Times

Here is the link:

https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/the-maga-court-inside-trump-s-new-white-house-20241110-p5kpbe

FWIW I believe the return of Trump to the presidency is a very bad thing and I do not believe any significant good will come of it at all.

Trump is a misogynistic arrogant jerk with virtually no re-deeming character attributes IMVHO and I am pretty concerned where he may lead the world.

As there is zilch I can do about it, I will just leave it at that – other than to worry that JD Vance – the VP – is hardly much of an improvement if at all. We face a dangerous four years I reckon.

Great work by the FT in this article by the way!

Back in my hole now!

David.

We Really Do Have Just An Amazing Amount Of The Politics Of Envy Loose In OZ!

This appeared this morning:

8.28AM 10 November, 2024

Mark Butler says he didn’t ask Qantas for upgrade

Andrew Hobbs

Health Minister Mark Butler says he didn’t ask to be upgraded by Qantas when he flew to Melbourne for a 50th birthday party.

“I was in Melbourne for a colleague’s 50th birthday on the weekend. Obviously, I paid for my flight. It was a quick go over on Saturday afternoon, come back on Sunday morning. I’d booked myself and to the best of my recollection, I simply sort of got to the airport and they had upgraded me,” Butler said on Sky.

“This happens by airlines to shift the load in their airline. If they have a spare business-class seat, generally, they’ll upgrade an economy class passenger up to that so that they can then on sell the economy-class seat, for which there’s always more demand than there is capacity.

“So I didn’t ask anyone for it. I simply arrived at the airport and got handed a ticket that was an upgrade. I declared it in the proper way.”

Here is the link:

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australian-mining-ceo-detained-by-mali-junta-20241110-p5kpb5

 Who cares?

Can I suggest concern here is just a trivial expression of misplaced envy?

In another life I used to fly a fair bit for consulting engagements around the country,. Needless to say, being pretty junior then I spent a good amount of time at the back of the plane!

But after about a few months of 2-3 times a month flights I was upgraded occasionally and as time went on upgrades became more and more regular – some great booking computer in the sky seemed to be taking a personal interest – which was nice, and meant I always booked with the same airline as I assume was their plan!!! Needless to say when I stopped regular work flights, regular upgrades also vanished!

There is an algorithm I am sure keeping watch on all this and the more loyal you are the more upgraded you are it seems, and vice a versa..

Flying for work is not fun and as such if you get an upgrade it is just a minor source of pain relief – and nothing more.

To me public envy and frothing at the mouth in anger at upgrades is just adolescent and silly.

Why do others even care I wonder? The world has many more problems than who got upgraded!!!!

David.

AusHealthIT Poll Number 772 – Results – 10 November 2024.

 Here are the results of the poll.

Is Pain in Women Under Recognised And Treated?

Yes                                                                             17 (57%)

No                                                                                4 (13%)

I Have No Idea                                                            9 (30%)

Total No. Of Votes: 30

A pretty clear vote with an amazingly high "no-idea" response. I wonder why that was?

Any insights on the poll are welcome, as a comment, as usual!

Good voting turnout. 

9 of 30 who answered the poll admitted to not being sure about the answer to the question!

Again, many, many special thanks to all those who voted! 

David.

I Think I Want One!

This appeared last week:

Dyson invents domestic dog robot to do all your chores

By Joe Pinkstone

Updated November 2, 2024 — 2.25pmfirst published at 11.50am

Dyson engineers have invented a four-legged robodog that can vacuum carpets, mow the lawn and water plants.

The company has been granted a patent for a housekeeping robot that can be used to clean a home or a commercial environment such as a hotel.

Small and flat “biscuit tin” robotic vacuum cleaners are becoming increasingly popular, but the new invention is more versatile and complicated.

The new patent, which was granted in October, is for a four-legged machine that resembles the robotic attack hounds that featured in the television show Black Mirror.

In 2016, Boston Dynamics, a US company, unveiled Spot, a four-legged dog-like machine that sells for about $US75,000 ($114,000). It is now being used to inspect nuclear fusion reactors, to deliver parcels and as potential weapons of war.

But engineers at Dyson hope their version will be used to help people combat their never-ending list of household chores.

The patent describes a rechargeable four-legged robot with an extendable “housekeeping module” fastened underneath the main body of the machine, to help it access spots that are tricky to reach.

A nozzle will protrude under the “head” of the machine, which is intended for use inside and outside, according to the patent filing. It is imagined that the unnamed machine will be able to tackle tasks such as vacuuming, mopping, watering the grass, mowing the lawn and blowing away leaves.

It is designed to be able to move around under its own power and then to sit down when finished so the cleaning module can be removed, either to be recharged, maintained or switched out for another module, such as replacing a lawn mowing module with one for mopping.

“With a housekeeping module attached, the robot may be able to clean under and between more obstacles, increasing the coverage,” Dyson writes in its patent.

“The robot does not need to navigate into tight gaps. The user is able to easily insert or remove a module without having to reach underneath the robot.

“The robot can be in a stable, unpowered state during user module exchange, which may decrease the risk of injury.”

It says the machine is designed to have four legs, each with a knee-like joint, and pads on its feet, but these could also be replaced with wheels if needed.

While the robot visually resembles the Boston Dynamics four-legged machines, there are differences, such as the back legs facing backwards on the Dyson dog. There was no mention of how the machine would navigate its environment.

Dyson, famed for its vacuum cleaners and its innovative fans and hair tools, is the second most prolific filer of patents in Britain. There is no guarantee the invention will ever become a product, if it will ever be brought to market, or how much it would cost.

David Shrier, professor of practice, AI and innovation at Imperial College London, said we would see more automated helpers in our everyday lives as robots improved and integrated AI.

“People are probably familiar with the Roomba and similar robotic cleaning systems; they have been tremendous labour-saving devices, which expand on the capability of the humble vacuum cleaner,” he said.

“Envisioned versions of the future in sci-fi like William Gibson’s gardening ‘crabs’ and Minority Report’s intelligence spiders are now turning into engineering reality, and I’m delighted to see my colleagues at Dyson pursuing practical, helpful applications of this technology.”

Professor Adrian Hopgood, an independent consultant in AI and emeritus professor of intelligent systems at Portsmouth University, said the robodog patent brought together existing technologies into one invention to maximise benefit, much like Apple did with the first iPhone in 2007.

“The patent brings together existing technologies like those behind the Boston Dynamics dog, robotic vacuum cleaners and visual recognition systems,” he said.

“Some of the most impactful inventions comprise existing inventions repackaged. The most famous example is probably the smartphone, and the iPhone specifically, and in that respect Dyson is following a similar path.”

The Telegraph, London

Here is the link:

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/dyson-invents-domestic-dog-robot-to-do-all-your-chores-20241102-p5knbp.html

The Jetsons are coming at us a high speed!

Amazing stuff. Now to wonder about the price!

David.