Report sets out our position on the digital transformation of the National Health Service (NHS) and social care

Our report, the digital advantage, sets out our position on the digital transformation of the National Health Service (NHS) and social care across England.

While the NHS has faced and met the greatest challenge of its 73-year history in the Covid-19 pandemic, preparatory work has continued towards the long-term goal of ensuring widespread interoperability across the sector.

This report aims to define and summarise the difficulties inherent in achieving interoperability and analyse accomplishments to date through a series of case studies.

The next set of interoperability challenges that need to be overcome and the steps that should be taken to get there - backed up by evidence of what works - are also identified.

This report has been written for all stakeholders across academia, industry, the health service, and government, who are interested in achieving the benefits of healthcare interoperability.

We believe the time has come for a new initiative to connect the dots through an overarching national structure.

A thorough post-pandemic review and inventory should now begin, followed by a strategy for achieving complete interoperability and legislation mandating open data standards.

However, the NHS’s sheer size and complexity, as well as the highly sensitive nature of personal health information, are major impediments to interoperability within this one-of-a-kind public health system.

Shared health record systems must adhere to the strict legal protections for patient confidentiality in the United Kingdom and integrate technologies developed within a complex network of organisational silos.

We have outlined five key recommendations for a new, national initiative to ensure that citizens reap the benefits of digital transformation.