Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Digital transformation of the NHS faces slow, uneven progress with significant challenges.
Conclusion
Successive Governments have attempted digital transformation of the NHS. Progress has been slow and uneven, and there is now substantial variation between organisations. This attempt has the potential to be different, with clear intentions and funding to address factors that have frustrated progress in the past. These include the preponderance of “legacy” IT in the NHS, the skills of the workforce, and the challenges of building an inclusive digital health service. The Government will only succeed this time if it can respond robustly to all of these challenges. (Paragraph 12) Innovation in digital healthcare
Government Response Summary
The government asserts it has a coherent policy and a suite of planned NHS App features that will be refined based on user research and usage data. It highlights ongoing user engagement via a 40,000-member panel and various promotional activities for new features.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We have a coherent policy in place to ensure positive patient outcomes, with a suite of features planned which will be refined, expanded, and modified as we conduct more user research, make discoveries, and examine usage data to tell us what features really are the most useful and impactful for citizens and the health and care system. This includes an NHS App user panel (c. 40,000 members) who are regularly engaged in user research to support and inform product development. A range of activity is underway over the coming months to promote and raise awareness of new or improved features within the App, including national media; social media; digital and physical materials in different health and care settings (such as GP surgeries and pharmacies);10 and partnerships with charities and patient groups to support people with specific needs. Systems and Interoperability