Patients and health and care staff across the country will
benefit from more personalised, easier to access, digitally
delivered health and care as the Health and Social Care Secretary
delivered his first health
technology-focused speech since his appointment.
Speaking at the HSJ Digital Transformation Summit, set out his plans for a more
inclusive digital health service that better harnesses the power
of innovation to drive a new era of recovery and reform, which
will include the publication of a Digital Health Plan later this
year.
This move puts digital transformation at the heart of health and
care reforms and will be instrumental in embedding technologies
and processes which will help clear the COVID backlog, in time
leading to reductions in waiting lists.
He announced ambitions including:
- for 90% of NHS trusts to have Electronic Patient Records in
place or be processing them by December 2023 and for all social
care providers to adopt a digital social care record – both of
which will save clinicians time, for example freeing-up 23,000
hours of nursing time for care every year. This will also deliver
better, safer care for patients as electronic treatment plans
increase consistency, reduce risk and can shorten the length of
hospital stays.
- for 75% of adults in England to use the NHS App by March
2024, and expand functions on estimated waiting times and
personalised advice. This will help people manage their health by
having access to their data, including their GP health records,
as well as make it easier to order repeat prescriptions, book
appointments online and register preferences for services, such
as organ donation, which will save lives.
The Health and Social Care Secretary set out his new targets for
the rollout of Electronic Patient Records across both health and
social care. He said:
We have undeniably seen brilliant progress. But this progress
hasn’t always been consistent across the board - for example, one
in five trusts still do not have Electronic Patient Records.
Electronic patient records are the essential prerequisite for a
modern, digital NHS. Without them, we cannot achieve the full
potential for reform.
So I want to accelerate the rollout of these vital records, with
a new approach so that we hit 90% coverage by the end of next
year.
I want to see a particular focus on social care, where around 40%
of providers are still grappling entirely with paper-based
records. So want to see all social care providers adopt a digital
social care record.
Embracing personalised technologies, will outline his ambition for
75% of the adults in England to use the NHS App by March 2024. He
said:
To get there, we need to show people the app is for life, not
just for COVID, and that it will be a future front door for
interacting with the NHS.
The NHS is already working on new features, including how we can
show estimated waiting times and the results of blood tests
within the app.
The NHS app has shown how people are receptive to having
healthcare literally in their hands – and we have the opportunity
to use platforms like apps and websites to access diagnostics and
therapies, helping them to manage their own conditions.
The Health and Social Care Secretary will also set out his
ambitions to utilise NHS data to drive innovation, building on
the pioneering work during the pandemic to develop diagnostics
and treatment for COVID-19 - including the RECOVERY trial which
led to the discovery of Dexamethasone, the world’s first proven
treatment for COVID-19 in just 100 days, which has saved at least
a million lives across the world. He said:
NHS data is making the whole world safer and healthier.
Thanks to this country’s single, national health service, the NHS
has a precious resource in the form of data - that can offer so
much insight to pioneers in the life sciences - including some of
the world’s largest genomic datasets.
But we know that there is more to do to build trust in the use of
data and reassure the public that the data will be used securely.
For instance, making it smoother and safer for researchers to
access and use data, through requiring the use of trusted
research environments.
By developing a gold-standard security driven environment,
researchers will be encouraged to drive innovation, while
ensuring patient data is protected to the highest standard.
Looking to the future, the Health and Social Care Secretary
announced his intention to publish a Digital Health Plan later
this year which will build on lessons learned from the pandemic
and drive change across the digital health space.
Background information
- The Health and Social Care Secretary spoke at the HSJ Digital
Transformation Summit on Thursday 24 February.
- The speech was live streamed on DHSC social channels.
- A checked against delivery version of the speech is
available here
