North Central London ICB’s Digital Diagnostics Strategy for 2025 – 2030 outlines plans to upgrade infrastructure, digitise workflows, equip staff with “intuitive tools”, and leverage AI and advanced analytics.

The ICB presents a roadmap for delivering digital diagnostics, with focuses for year one including single order comms for pathology and radiology, extended community order comms for pathology, the NMR Digital Registry, connecting private providers into data flows, and providing an image sharing repository. This will be built on in years two and three with the digitising of workflows and reporting, read access to NCL’s PACS hospital record, early AI use for smart pathways, and the contractual obligation for private providers/suppliers to integrate data.

In the final two years of the strategy, NCL will then reportedly focus on asset management systems, developing batch ordering capability, an integrated booking system, horizon scanning for digital innovation, working on integrations of AI, and the proactive monitoring of patients.

The strategy sets out some of the challenges facing NCL in this space. Whilst the appetite for collaboration is there, it notes, “there continue to be numerous barriers to delivering digital transformation at scale”. Variances in digital maturity across the system also mean there is “vital” work to be done on baseline infrastructure prior to developing digital diagnostics capabilities, the strategy continues.

There are also things to consider around interoperability and the “alignment of architectural strategic direction”, according to the strategy, “along with tools and products that facilitate the matching and flow of data”. There are ongoing challenges with digital capacity as a result of the shortage of digital, data and technology expertise, it adds, as well as with financial planning and governance, where there is “still much to do in terms of ensuring digital assurance and decision making is embedded in all transformation work”.

Critical success factors, the strategy highlights, will be around sustainable financial investment, digital culture, digital workforce, and digital access for citizens. The ICB also sets out a series of goals to level up digital maturity and improve access to healthcare information, to work on a design thinking approach to new technology, and to delivering smarter system workflows.

“Diagnostics are the backbone of healthcare, informing over 85% of clinical pathways,” NCL states. “Yet, challenges such as outdated processes, varied digital maturity, and fragmented systems limit our potential. With diagnostic tests forming a critical part of care for 1.7 million NCL residents, modernisation is not just an option—it’s a necessity.”

Digital in diagnostics: wider trend

NHS Scotland’s operational improvement plan notes the national roll-out of a digital dermatology pathway to GPs across Scotland, and to all health boards “by the end of spring 2025”, following the procurement of a digital service enabling GPs to take photos of skin issues and upload them to a dermatology referral. Already available in six health boards and over 400 GP practices, the plan cites evidence suggesting that this pathway will allow “around 50 percent” of patients to be returned to their GP “without having an in-person appointment with a consultant”.

A research programme in Cambridge, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is supporting Lyzeum Ltd, a spinout from the University of Cambridge, to commercialise its AI tool that aims to accelerate coeliac diagnosis. The study involved submitting 4,000 sets of biopsy images from five NHS hospitals to the algorithm “to help it distinguish between healthy samples and those with coeliac disease”.

Finalists have been selected for HTN’s AI and Data Awards, with a category focusing on the best use of AI for diagnosis, treatment and patient care attracting entries from a range of solutions implementing AI in diagnostics.

NHS Gloucestershire ICB has published a prior information notice to explore procuring a continuing healthcare digital system, by opening a preliminary market engagement exercise.

The ICB notes a number of key requirements for the system, including the ability to map the continuing care assessment process across all age groups, ongoing care management functionality, automated reporting and the ability to monitor statutory time-bound activity such as assessments and reviews. It should also provide access to a patient platform, a customisable referral platform and a data visualisation tool for “ongoing monitoring and insights”.

Finally, the notice also highlights the importance of AI and ambient technology to help “streamline the assessment process”, adding that the new system should also be able to integrate with partner systems such as RiO, SystmOne Community, Liquid Logic and the national spine.

According to the ICB, the contract is expected to last “between 3 and 5 years, depending on the route to market chosen following market engagement”, with the total value yet to be confirmed. Interested providers must register their interest by 12pm on 29 April 2025, after which a virtual market engagement event will take place, where an estimated budget will also be discussed. Find out more about this opportunity here.

Digital transformation across ICBs: the wider trend 

A new framework intending to provide a tool to support ICBs on effective implementation was recently published, with the aim to address “considerable variation in how Advice and Guidance is applied, delivered and monitored”. As a result, all ICBs will be required to submit quarterly progress of Advice and Guidance, providing a maturity level, as well as insight into its use and quality.

Two primary care innovation projects have been selected for Surrey Heartlands ICB Test Bed Programme. With £1.3 million in non-recurrent funding, the programme aims to deliver innovation in primary care, focusing on three key areas: inbound, outbound, and business processes.

NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB recently awarded a £90,000 contract to the digital mental wellness programme myHappymind, an online educational resource aimed at supporting children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing.

NHS Frimley ICB also awarded a contract to Pungo Ltd for its social prescribing digital solution, Joy. The 3-year contract is said to support the social needs of patients across four Slough PCNs and other secondary care partners, with the Joy app reportedly helping to create a “streamlined referral process” when connecting patients with different care providers.

Outlining the historical work that has gone into the strategy’s development, the ICS shares how it conducted an initial assessment of “as is” capabilities, requiring an audit of technologies in use across the system, integrations, digital services, and dashboards. This included, it goes on, domain mapping to understand how different parts of the system work together and how that can be improved, how information moves, how business processes function, and potential future opportunities.

The ICS notes its technology mapping review, to inform planning and to allow the system to “make the most of what we already have”, understanding what systems can do now, and their underlying infrastructure. On technical and operational standards, the ICS adds how this review has helped to see differences and commonalities, supporting an aim to make systems and processes work better across the ICS. It also covered capability mapping across teams and departments, and governance structure mapping to understand how decisions are made and who is involved.

The ICS’s vision, according to its website, centres around breaking down technological and cultural barriers that “silo us into our respective organisations”; becoming a “team of teams”, building a “single view of an individual through a digital lens”, and building common data platforms to promote data flow; and placing people at the heart of digital service development, offering “an accessible, trusted set of digital services that help individuals find the right care and support for them”. A webpage also presents guiding principles for the strategy including that it is person-centric, collaborative, inclusive, aligned, and ethical; and key capabilities which stand as enablers to the strategy’s delivery, covering leadership, governance, capability, and data.

The roadmap itself outlines three “missions”. For “working together”, it focuses on using digital and data to enable teams to work “effectively and seamlessly”, allowing teams across the system to communicate, share knowledge, and exchange information, creating communities of practice and establishing DDaT governance for the partnership.

The system also looks to its second mission of “improving lives”, committing to developing a data platform to promote data and intelligence capabilities, and to “drive integrated and joined-up thinking”. The strategy notes expected outcomes including connecting data to “showcase where factors influence population wellbeing”, segmenting the population to identify and reduce inequalities, and identifying data trends to support the system’s development of preventative measures.

And the final mission, around navigating support, looks to provide residents, patients and providers access to information “quickly and easily”, with proposed outcomes including the development of a “user-need driven” digital service, access to relevant information “based on digital navigation tools”, and offering options for support including signposting to “local offers”.

“We’ll create groups where colleagues can share knowledge and best practices across our health system,” the strategy states. “This will help us come up with new ideas faster and ensure high-quality digital solutions everywhere.” The strategy also communicates the ICS’s plans around setting out “clear rules” for tech projects involving different partners to help ensure the deployment of common standards and the effective management of quality and risk. To read Somerset’s DDaT strategy in full, please click here.

Digital strategy across the NHS

North West London ICS’s latest board meeting shared insights into the developments in the region, including challenges around cyber resilience, digital in primary care, an update on its digital programmes and progress towards integrated neighbourhood teams.

South West London ICS published its latest digital strategy covering 2025-2028, centred around five digital priorities: digital infrastructure, integrating systems, data strategy, empowering citizens, and innovation. Noting the organic growth of SWL’s current digital infrastructure, the plan cites the need to create a “robust and secure digital platform across SWL, ensuring comprehensive cyber security, system and data availability, data quality and appropriate governance”.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust’s latest strategy to 2030 has also been published, with a focus on modernising infrastructure, introducing digital tools and technologies supporting productivity, and enhancing digital skills to support modern ways of working. The strategy details progress made since the publication of the trust’s last strategy covering 2020-2025, including becoming “a leader in digital” and putting in place “foundations for achieving excellence in the future”.

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust shared its organisational strategy for 2025 – 2030, setting out its vision, objectives and measures, as well noting the opportunities to utilise data, innovation and a digital-first approach. The trust opens with its vision to state “delivering the strategy will take time and will involve navigating problems along the way, adding that “it will mean learning how to fail, and trying something new, if our actions don’t deliver the desired outcomes”.

The ICB noted its application for £1.15 million in NHSE Cyber Risk Reduction funding not yet received, the ongoing development of NWL’s cyber strategy with a target completion date of the end of the financial year, continued progress around the London Shared Care Record and optimisation work around its acute provider EPR. Community and mental health trusts are working together on the development of a “common digital strategy”, the report outlines, whilst the “exploitation” of the Federated Data Platform is said to be underway across all of NWL’s acute trusts.

As part of a report prepared by Rob Hurd, chief executive, the board assurance framework highlights strategic risks around the ICS’s resilience and its ability to respond “appropriately, timeously and effectively to foreseeable major risks, events and potential disruptions” including cyber attack, noting a high risk rating.

The ICB shares progress around Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response to include the development and implementation of “a robust training and exercising plan” covering monthly training and table top exercises for ICB commanders and “dedicated exercises for system wide participation for areas of identified risk” such as cyber security. It also notes that an ICB business continuity training package has been developed and shared with business continuity leads, whilst a “lessons identified” tracker collects learnings from a range of sources like debriefs and inquests, to target training and exercising to “areas of identified weakness and gaps in resilience”.

The framework also lists controls including investments in antivirus and privileged access management software, investments in detection and response including cyber security dashboards, the adoption of NHS Digital’s “defend as one” approach allowing a trust undergoing cyber attack to draw on support from centralised teams, awareness training for staff, and shared operational capacity planning and prioritisation.

In primary care, the board notes improvements in the number of GP practices with the “translate” functionality switched on within Patchs, with 64 practices reportedly meeting this criteria compared with a target number of 58. However, the board adds issues to its plans, including the rescheduling of NHSE’s Foundation Class procurement framework and the re-procurement of EMIS and SystmOne, now due by March 2027.

Work is underway, it continues, to address latency issues in the feed from EPRs to the Federated Data Platform; on understanding Integrated Neighbourhood Teams’ “requirements for multi-disciplinary record sharing”; and the review of governance around AI by the Acute Provider Collaborative, “to be extended to ICS as a whole by end 2024/25”.

In a summary of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams in NWL, produced by Caroline Farrar, SRO for the programme, the ICB cites the importance of tying in “supporting concepts” such as health literacy and digital literacy to the broader neighbourhood working model, “enabling people to better manage their own health and care needs where possible”. The summary shares patient feedback around the need for a “one-stop shop” for their care needs and the ability to “tell their story once”, focusing on the implications of this for the ICB such as removing duplication between teams, promoting access to shared care records, and making changes to infrastructure and culture “with improved information sharing and effective digital systems”.

Minimum timescales for the completion of various phases of INT rollout cover the deadline of March 2025 for putting “functioning” INTs in place including processes being put in place to measure improvements in patient care and staff wellbeing; March 2026 for Population Health Management to be “fully established” with “full digital interoperability”; March 2027 to meet the target of INT jointly planning its workforce to “deliver integrated care models”; and the ICB setting a date of March 2029 for “INT delivering demonstrable system benefits and outcomes”.

Neighbourhood health and delivering a system-wide approach to population health management

NWL set out its strategic approach for INTs toward the end of last year, focusing on the need for all providers to place the development and support of INTs at the core of their own strategies, and noting the “crucial” enablers that will support effective integrated working, including data, technology and digital enablers such as the shared care record. Each INT is to work through four phases of development, starting with foundations and integrated practice before moving onto population health management with supporting infrastructure, integrated and intelligence-led practice, and finally full delegation for neighbourhood delivery of core offers. The second phase should see population health management established and embedded, with “deep” understanding of the community through data analysis, and interoperable IT systems in place to enable joint care.

NHSE published guidance earlier this month for progressing and delivering neighbourhood health, asking ICBs to plan a neighbourhood health and care model, with an initial focus on people with the most complex health and care needs. It notes the need to develop a consistent, system-wide population health management approach and to “utilise quantitative data and qualitative insights to understand needs and risks for different population cohorts”. It adds how this information should inform the design and delivery of care, and that systems should aim for “improving coordination, personalisation and continuity of care”. Here, it notes the use of a single electronic health and care record that is actively used in real-time, to provide “care coordination functionality between the person or their carer and the wider multi-professional team, working across organisational boundaries.”

One of HTN’s January panel discussions focused on the role of digital in supporting NHS reform – modernising services, shifting from hospital to community, and supporting the move from reactive to proactive care. We welcomed Dawn Greaves, associate director of digital transformation at Leeds Community Healthcare; Ananya Datta, associate director of primary care digital delivery at South East London ICS; and Stuart Stocks, lead enterprise architect with Aire Logic. Panel members shared their insight and experience from a wide range of digital projects, highlighting what worked well and their learnings; how their organisations are currently tackling key challenges such as capacity and demand, and managing waiting lists; and balancing risk with innovation.

The Black Country ICB has published a prior information notice for the procurement of a remote monitoring and virtual ward platform to support the delivery of “multi-disciplinary and collaborative health services”, by opening a pre-market engagement ahead of a procurement mid-2025.

Valued at £600k with an estimated four-year timescale, the procurement is part of a collaborative effort covering both primary and secondary care, and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

The chosen platform must be agile with the ability to respond effectively to “evolving technology and operational requirements”, while also connecting patients and clinicians through a virtual interface. The contract also notes remote monitoring as an essential part of the service, and to allow clinicians the ability to work from various locations including their vehicles, when required.

The group plan to hold a “virtual open day” which will take place via Teams between 1pm and 2pm, 28 February 2025, with the aim to “expand upon the scope of the potential requirement(s)”. Interested suppliers must confirm their attendance by 27 February 2025 via the Artemis e-sourcing portal.

It follows a similar opportunity from last year in which the NHS Black Country ICB awarded £354k for a digital inequalities support service to assist in the improvement digital enablement across the region, with the aim to give citizens “quicker and better” access to healthcare services.

Virtual wards in digital healthcare: the wider trend 

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recently shared an evaluation of its virtual royal infirmary programme, demonstrating the impact of its “hospital-level care directly to patients’ homes”. Highlights included a total discharge of 752 patients from the virtual ward so far, an increase in inpatient bed availability by 6.7 and 11.5 beds per day and a positive return on investment.

NHS England published the latest figures for virtual wards from December 2024, sharing insight into capacity and occupancy as well as the health service’s current position in comparison to the long-term ambition to reach “40-50 virtual ward beds per 100,000 people”. According to the report, virtual ward ‘bed’ capacity was 12,733, with 75.4 percent occupancy.

East Cheshire NHS Trust reported a total of 1,335 patients receiving specialised at-home care since the launch of their virtual ward back in 2023. Led by advanced clinical practitioners, community nurses, therapists, and rapid response care providers, the virtual ward includes services tailored to various patient needs.

Want to learn more about the impact of virtual wards and what they mean for the future of healthcare? Make sure you register for our upcoming HTN Now webinar on ‘Virtual wards in practice: approaches and learnings / What does the future of virtual wards look like?’ where we’ll be speaking to a panel of experts to get their insights.

“A key design principle of the BSW Digital Strategy is to avoid system proliferation and to aim for simplification of the digital estate,” the strategy states. It notes “to that end collaboration, shared working, joint roles and procurements will increasingly become the norm in order to maximise efficiencies of scale and to harmonise use of technology and systems by colleagues and the public we serve.”

With this in mind, the strategy offers an insight into current EPR positions and plans for future development across each sector, noting that in primary care 87/90 practices are on TPP SystmOne, with “further consolidation to a single primary care system” planned, and the ICB monitoring NHSE’s New Market Entrant Programme.

In community, TPP SystmOne and System C is in use, with plans to explore “tactical gains” of bedded capacity moving to the acute EPR; whilst in mental health, plans are to consolidate use of Servelec Rio. For acute, current systems are listed as Cerner, Lorenzo, and System C, with plans fro move to a single EPR across acutes, and an exploration of where alignment with primary care “would be beneficial”. And system wide, BSW is currently using Graphnet, planning to include all BSW partners within the integrated care record, and to align with national tools like NRL and GP Connect to promote cross-border sharing.

Identifying “clear opportunities” to develop shared infrastructure across BSW, the strategy outlines two ways forward: a “network infrastructure joint procurement framework exercise” led by the Technical Design Authority; or a review of the existing system-wide network architecture “including recommendations as to next steps for short term and long term”. The ICB plans to undertake a “critical review” of service and functional level requirements against current EPR capabilities.

On a series of design principles intended to “set out an agreed system-wide approach to the use of technology and digitally enabled transformation”, BSW highlights the need to “ensure existing tools can’t provide the solution before looking elsewhere” and to avoid reinventing the wheel by looking for examples of good practice. When new solutions are required, the ICB notes that their design should place cyber security “at the centre of all digital solutions”, and that the cloud should be used as “a default starting position” for the design process. Design should be service-led, it continues, with national or regional solutions being used “before considering local ones”, and the number of different systems minimised where possible, to avoid “system proliferation”. Information governance, data privacy, clinical safety, and DTAC requirements should be considered “from the start”, the principles go on to state, ensuring data quality can be measured and that data can be shared via open APIs and fed into BSW’s Integrated Care Record to avoid data siloes.

“This organic approach enables alignment as any and every opportunity arises,” the strategy states. “While this will realise benefits more slowly than a dedicated alignment programme it will avoid the costly and time-consuming removal of still serviceable equipment or contracts ahead of their natural end of life.”

The strategy then goes on to identify priorities for progression for the Digital Board across three themes: information sharing and the Integrated Care Record, digital workforce, and cyber security. These include a focus on continuing the rollout of the Care Centric solution for the Integrated Care Record to all BSW partners, the development of shared care plans, the embedding of PHM tools within the Integrated Care Record BI data marts to support BSW’s PHM programme, and a focus on the sharing of results and images across the system. The ICB also plans to procure an acute video consultation and appointment management tool, and explore a potential ICS model for Robotic Process Automation with the aim of rolling out a single tool across BSW. On cyber security, BSW’s plans include the creation of “a dedicated ICS wide cyber security lead”, the development of a whole system cyber security strategy, and the procurement of a privileged access management solution.

“The BSW Digital Strategy will support our vision to empower people to lead their best life and the BSW Care Model,” the strategy concludes. “The digital solutions we have selected are anticipated to deliver care more effectively and efficiently, therefore contributing to the financial stability of services and the quality of care.”

To read BSW’s digital strategy to 2028 in full, please click here.

Digital strategy and priorities from across the NHS

NHS England published its 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance last month, with a focus on local prioritisation and planning, reducing wait times, improving access and patient flow, and more. Introducing the objectives and priorities, NHSE encourages systems to “shift their focus” from inputs to outcomes for patients and local communities, and notes the need for “a relentless focus” on operational performance, productivity improvements, and reductions in variation, delays, and waste. From 2025/26, the NHS will move to a “more devolved system”, according the guidance, whereby ICSs and trusts can earn greater flexibility and freedom, and patients have more choice and control.

HTN Now panel discussions have also featured input from key stakeholders and experts from across the health sector, exploring how to translate the findings from Lord Darzi’s report into action, with a focus on the need to offer patients more responsibility in managing their own care and achieving a level of visibility for information across ICSs and regions. An EHR-specific panel discussion considered the best way of achieving a balance between customisation, compliance and scalability, outlining challenges such as cost and the management of complex data flows. And an expert panel also recently joined us to debate the role of digital in supporting NHS reform, looking at examples and best practice around modernising services, shifting from hospital to community, and supporting the move from reactive to proactive care.

Elsewhere, SW London ICS’s digital strategy to 2028 set out a digital vision prioritising citizen and health professional empowerment, joined up patient pathways, and the “seamless” provision of health and care services for all citizens, “supported by new technologies”. On key enablers, the strategy recognises the importance of leadership, governance, and people, committing to ensuring that SWL is “well led” by “building and nurturing digital and data leadership”, investing in digital leadership skills, and ensuring clinical involvement in design and decision making. ICS boards will also be “well equipped to lead digital transformation and collaboration”, and organisations will have “well-resourced teams” with the skills required to deliver modern data and digital services, with data and digital literacy “ubiquitous” across ICS staff.

The five documents being shared are: care plans; crisis plans; diagnosis extracts; risk assessment; mental health act notices. Each one accessible through the person summary dashboard within the shared care record, with the aim to give health and social care staff access to this type of information for the first time through the record.

The ICS noted: “The addition of these documents enriches the data already held and gives Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Shared Care Record users an improved holistic view of a person’s history and interactions between different services across our ICS area.”

Rob Nimmo, head of digital transformation within the trust, shared his thoughts on this upgrade via LinkedIn. He said: “A big thank you to all the teams involved in CPFT, Orion Health and of course our fantastic Programme Team! And we’re looking forward to many more new integrations over the coming months. Watch this space for more news as we continue to build a Shared Care Record to support the delivery of improved care and generate efficiencies across our ICS.”

Digital projects: the wider trend 

For a recent HTN Now webinar we focused on early preparations for EPR implementation, whilst outlining some of the most common pitfalls to avoid. We were joined by Tara Athanasiou and Nick Robertson, director of advisory & strategic, and director of training & change at Ideal Health.

The Welsh electronic maternity record has started a national roll-out, first to Aneurin Bevan University and Cardiff and Vale University health boards, with plans for the digital system to be available across all health boards by March 2026.

In a HTN Now panel discussion from August, we were joined by Heather Young, virtual ward programme manager at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and ChristinaPrada, virtual ward service lead at Northampton General Hospital, to discuss learnings and experiences around virtual wards. The panel shared successes and challenges in their approaches to virtual ward programmes, including around information sharing, consolidating systems, and overcoming concerns about patient safety.

Discover more success stories with shared care records by checking out our HTN Now Awards finalists for this category. And keep an eye on our upcoming events to get involved in the conversation, including our next one on approaches to optimising and adding value to EPRs.

The strategy sets out five digital priorities for the next three years across digital infrastructure, integrating systems, harnessing data, empowering citizens, and innovation.

It notes actions to be taken on digital infrastructure, to include establishing expert digital teams and developing digital competence, implementing systems and processes that are effective, and consolidating systems to reduce duplication. It adds developing a “consistent, robust, and secure” digital infrastructure to cover cyber security and “effective” information governance, and ensuring interoperability and value for money of system procurements, as well as levelling up provider digital maturity. According to the strategy, this will allow clinicians, carers, and staff access to digital tools which will “enable them to be truly mobile” and improve staff productivity.

On integrating systems and data strategy, actions to be taken include enhancing and levelling up information systems to improve information flow and continuity of care; continuing to “drive forward” the EPR levelling up agenda and developing a strategic approach to future EPR provision across the ICS; enhancing the functionality of the London Care Record; rationalising order communications systems to “provide a platform to integrate SWL ICS diagnostic services across all settings”; and using data “in new ways” to improve outcomes, identify areas for improvement, and target resources “more effectively”.

To empower citizens, the ICS commits to supporting self-care and enabling citizen access to their health and care records through the NHS app and patient portals. It adds to work with citizens to determine “the best way to provide digital solutions with agreed minimum requirements” such as single sign-on, and to use patient-centred tools and interactive care plans to prevent ill health and help people stay well. And, for innovation, the strategy highlights the ICS’s commitment to encouraging and facilitating innovation, including providing access to the latest technology and research, and attracting and retaining “the best workforce”.

The strategy next goes on to outline examples of how these digital priorities support the delivery of wider ICS priorities, including the potential for Ambient AI to “significantly improve” healthcare by simplifying medical record creation and “enhancing clinician-patient interactions”; enabling better access to diagnostic tests; supporting secure remote access to diagnostic images to foster flexible working and avoid duplication or delays; using data “intelligently” to help manage waiting lists at ICS level, drive prioritisation, and reduce “unwarranted variation in access”; using patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) and virtual consultations to increase access and efficiency; ensuring “seamless communication and coordination” amongst healthcare providers; offering citizens tools to “allow them to undertake their own monitoring”; and signposting people to the appropriate care provider.

On key enablers, the strategy recognises the importance of leadership, governance, and people, committing to ensuring that SWL is “well led” by “building and nurturing digital and data leadership”, investing in digital leadership skills, and ensuring clinical involvement in design and decision making. ICS boards will also be “well equipped to lead digital transformation and collaboration”, and organisations will have “well-resourced teams” with the skills required to deliver modern data and digital services, with data and digital literacy “ubiquitous” across ICS staff.

The strategy points to work commencing on the creation of a “target architecture design” to support the SWL ICS Infrastructure Blueprint, with an aim to map all SWL organisations against the blueprint and “develop a view of the as-is position”. From this, the strategy continues, “we will be able to describe what the target architecture will look like and be able to create roadmaps at an organisational level to achieve this”. The ICS’s Enterprise Architecture Blueprint also follows core themes including streamlining processes and establishing ICS-wide technical forms; working with regional and national teams to enhance cyber resilience; designing and implementing systems and applications supported by open APIs; integrating AI and machine learning technologies “thoughtfully”; encouraging a cloud-first approach “guided by best practice”; and ensuring technology initiatives adopt a digital-first approach.

On the NHS app and patient engagement portals, SWL ICS reports that these have been introduced into “three of our four acute hospitals”, with over 400,000 patients having registered, representing “between 60 and 70 percent”. These patient engagement portals are integrated into the NHS app, and cover services including appointment management, diagnostic test results, access to medical records, questionnaires and messaging, and wait list validation. Work is also underway, according to the strategy, to develop use of the NHS app to support the deployment of PIFU, as well as to pilot the use of the app for pre-operative questionnaires, and to develop “meet and greet” processes such as welcome messages and service-specific information to help guide patients through their elective journey. Over the next three years, the ICS commits to ensuring all provider portals can be accessed through the NHS app, to increasing the adoption rate of the NHS app to “above 65 percent of SW London citizens”, to tackle digital exclusion, and to support integration and wider use of functionality.

And for digital inclusion, the ICS sets out five considerations: inclusion in the digital strategy, inclusive digital projects, communication and publicity, leverage resources and commercial opportunities, and increase visibility and reporting. The strategy also details a series of recommendations and objectives in alignment with the What Good Looks Like framework, such as targeted outreach and education programmes, enhanced digital infrastructure access, the publication of a digital inclusion toolkit to “signpost staff to good practice, national guidelines, and local resources”, and the tracking of digital inclusion as part of the benefits realisation plan on all new digital projects.

Other areas of work detailed within the strategy include SWL’s focus on a Longitudinal Health & Care Record (LHCR) to help offer seamless communication across multiple organisations, enable shared care, and offer a single view of an individual’s health. Steps to be taken toward this cover engagement around understanding “the future clinical models across the patient journey”; an analysis of existing systems, processes, and challenges; an “articulation of the vision for improved patient care, operational efficiency, and clinical outcomes”; developing an outline of needs and ambitions to consider for the future of EPRs; undertaking a financial appraisal of affordability and ROI; and identifying risks and opportunities “including commercial”. An AI Adoption Framework and a Data Quality Framework are also being “devised” to ensure joint ownership and effective governance.

Finally, the strategy sets out what good looks like for SWL ICS: creating and encouraging a digital first approach and sharing innovative improvement ideas from frontline staff; driving innovation through collaboration with academia, industry, and other partners; and using data to inform care planning and support innovative and digitally-driven models of care. It goes on to note, making use of digital tools and technologies such as EPMA and barcoding to support “safer care”; employing decision support and other tools to “help clinicians follow best practice” and “eliminate quality variation”; a system wide approach to collaborative and MDT care planning “using an array of digital tools and services”; and making data available to support clinical trials, real-world evidencing, and AI tool development.

To read the strategy in full, please click here.

Updates on digital strategy and transformation in health and care

The latest board papers from Mid and South Essex ICB highlighted the impact of digital tools and data in supporting a number of different projects and priorities, including total triage, whole system stewardship, modern general practice, emergency preparedness, resilience and response, and more.

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust’s January 2025 board meeting also shared key updates on digital from across the trust, outlining key areas of focus for upcoming digital transformation and digital services. Opening with a response to the NHS Change consultation, the trust shared hopes for the 10-Year Health Plan, outlining four different themes, one of which focused on funding models that support transformation by facilitating “a shift in the focus of funding from hospitals to communities, and towards digital”. The trust noted the importance of putting in place infrastructure “that supports patients, clinicians, and staff”, including key points such as the ability to access information needed easily and safely; ease of use for clinicians; and cyber security.

In the US, the Department of Health & Human Services recently published its AI Strategic Plan, with a focus on four key domains: catalysing innovation in health AI and unlocking “new ways to improve people’s lives”; promoting trustworthy AI development and ethical and responsible use; “democratising” AI technologies and resources to promote access; and “cultivating AI-empowered workforces and organisation cultures” to ensure AI’s safe and effective use.

The ICB has procured the solution to support referrals, assessment, approvals, contracting, payment and case management of NHS funded care packages within the ICB. They expressed a need for information to “seamlessly flow between processes by connecting the entire lifecycle into one platform”,  highlighting integration between systems across health and social care as a “critical” element for the new system.

A planned service-wide transformation will be implemented across all business and clinical areas, the ICB notes, as well as clinical pathways such as acquired brain injury, mental health and specialist placements.

The ICB noted that “Interoperability is of paramount importance, allowing for the ICB and wider health and social care teams to share and view records”. When discussing the system, they added “this will support improved accessibility and visibility of data which in turn will enable more efficient and streamlined workflows for all teams and a better person experience”.

Investing in digital transformation: the wider trend 

In December, the Department of Health and Social Care announced £126 million in funding to help support hospices in making improvements to IT systems and facilities, in what was termed as the “biggest investment into hospices in a generation”. This came as part of the government’s Plan for Change and also factors into the 10 Year Health Plan’s aims to shift healthcare from hospitals and into the community.

UK health tech startup, Kidney Beam, recently received a £610k investment to help with improving virtual kidney care through their app. They plan to expand their reach into more unrepresented communities to “enhance the usability of its platform and forge new partnerships”.

Finally, Digital Health and Care Wales are seeking the procurement of a ‘National Intelligent Integrated Audit Solution’, with a budget of up to £5 million. The aim of the audit solution is to “monitor user access to the NHS Wales single patient record” and to be utilised for auditing relevant national clinical applications and national repositories, including all seven health boards and five of the six other statutory trusts across Wales.