Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Eighth Report - Digital transformation in the NHS
Health and Social Care Committee
HC 223
Published 30 June 2023
Recommendations
3
Deferred
Publish timetable for new NHS App and comprehensive communication plan for its benefits.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Department and NHS England set out in response to this report: (a) A timetable for introducing the new, “native” NHS App, and (b) Their plan for communicating the benefits and features offered by the new App …
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Government Response Summary
The government's response addresses initiatives to recruit and professionalise the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) workforce through graduate schemes, apprenticeships, and defining job roles, but does not provide the requested timetable or communication plans for the NHS App.
Department of Health and Social Care
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4
Accepted
Standards framework essential for improving NHS interoperability and health data sharing across systems.
Recommendation
We support the Hewitt review’s recommendation that the Department, NHS England and ICSs should work together to develop a standards framework to be adopted by all ICSs. This should improve interoperability and data sharing within and between systems. This should …
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Government Response Summary
The government has published a draft strategy for information sharing standards and interoperability, with final publication expected in Winter 2023. It also commits to providing targeted funding and support, including a further £100 million over the next two years, to help NHS trusts digitise and implement standards.
Department of Health and Social Care
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6
Deferred
Para 46
Implement DDaT Pay Framework for NHS England specialists to improve recruitment and retention.
Recommendation
To ensure that the NHS is able to recruit the best candidates and sustainably meet demand for DDaT specialists, now and in the future, we recommend that the Department apply to implement the DDaT Pay Framework for NHS England DDaT …
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Government Response Summary
The government's response details various past and ongoing programs aimed at supporting patients, carers, and health service staff with digital skills and promoting NHS App awareness, rather than addressing the recommendation to implement a DDaT Pay Framework for specialists to aid recruitment.
Department of Health and Social Care
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7
Deferred
Para 50
Integrate digital training throughout all wider NHS professional learning programmes for staff.
Recommendation
Investment in the NHS’s specialist digital workforce needs to be matched by investment in the wider workforce’s forces digital skills. It is important that digital is understood as a thread that runs throughout healthcare, not as a specialist skill set …
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Government Response Summary
The government discusses general digital exclusion and past initiatives like the Widening Digital Participation programme. It states it will continue to investigate and learn from existing models without committing to integrating digital training into NHS professional training programmes for the wider workforce.
Department of Health and Social Care
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10
Accepted in Part
Para 63
Set out approach for cross-departmental working to address digital exclusion
Recommendation
Responsibility for promoting digital inclusion does not rest solely, or even primarily, with the health service, and we are encouraged that the Department recognises the importance of cross-departmental working to address digital exclusion from its services. We recommend that it …
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Government Response Summary
The government describes ongoing cross-departmental work and states that NHS England will publish a digital inclusion framework this summer, along with co-developing further resources, partially addressing the request to set out its approach.
Department of Health and Social Care
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11
Accepted
Ensure continued availability of non-digital channels for patient access to services
Recommendation
Many patients could benefit from encouragement and support to use digital services that might not initially be their first choice, but there will be some patients who continue to prefer physical channels. The Department and NHS England must ensure that …
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Government Response Summary
The government states that patients unable to use digital channels can already continue to access services via telephone and traditional face-to-face services, and describes past and ongoing programmes to support digital skills.
Department of Health and Social Care
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12
Acknowledged
Para 71
Work collaboratively to understand best models for patient technology access and use
Recommendation
The NHS is a universal service, and people should not be unable to access it because of wider challenges around access to technology, connectivity and digital skills. The Department should work with NHS England and other Departments to understand what …
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Government Response Summary
The government expresses its commitment to accessible healthcare and notes existing multiagency partnerships and past initiatives like the Widening Digital Participation programme. It commits to continuing to investigate and learn from current models to support patients in accessing technology.
Department of Health and Social Care
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15
Rejected
Introduce comprehensive accreditation scheme for third-party healthcare apps with clear publicity
Recommendation
The Department and NHS England should work together to introduce a more comprehensive accreditation scheme for third-party healthcare apps, in addition to the current approach of recommending specific apps on some nhs.uk webpages. Within this scheme it should be easy …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation for a comprehensive third-party app accreditation scheme, stating the previous NHS Apps library was ineffective, and instead established DTAC standards for apps used in the NHS, planning a directory for these by late 2023/24.
Department of Health and Social Care
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Conclusions (7)
1
Conclusion
Accepted
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 …
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.
2
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 27
The pandemic provided a unique incentive to download the NHS App, because it hosted the Covid-19 pass. The new version of the App should bring benefits in terms of functionality, integration and personalisation, but it will require people to download it anew. The Department and NHS England announced improvements to …
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses on interoperability across local systems and institutions, the publication of a draft strategy, and the availability of shared care records, rather than addressing how it will demonstrate the continued value of the NHS App to its users.
5
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 45
A shortage of skilled digital professionals working in the NHS has been a barrier to digital transformation to date. Digital specialists can often command higher wages or better conditions in the private sector. This makes recruitment and retention to the NHS challenging, and leaves the health service reliant on third-party …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the broad challenges in attracting and retaining DDaT specialists due to pay, career progression, and professional structure. It states it is working to improve recruitment and retention, including reviewing pay measures, and directs the Committee to the Long-Term Workforce Plan for future solutions.
8
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 55
Without staff engagement in the entire process of introducing digital initiatives, digital transformation risks being perceived as an unwelcome, time-consuming imposition on an already over-stretched workforce. Co-designing digital initiatives with staff—including, but not limited to clinicians—is essential to ensure that these offer workable improvements to existing practices. The Department and …
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses on surfacing digital therapeutics via the NHS App and public messaging to encourage their use, completely failing to address the recommendation regarding ensuring staff have time and headspace for co-designing digital initiatives.
9
Conclusion
Accepted
There is a digital skills gap in social care that, if unaddressed, will hinder the digital transformation of the health and social care sectors. As with training for staff in the health service, it is vital that digital skills are integrated throughout learning and development for social care staff, rather …
Government Response Summary
The government outlines a comprehensive vision to uplift digital skills across the multi-disciplinary health and care workforce through existing programmes like The Digital Academy, Digital Health Leadership Programme, Topol Digital Fellowship, and specific free training programmes for social care professionals.
13
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 79
We are encouraged by the Department’s recognition that it needs to do better in both reassuring people about the security of data gathered by the health service, and communicating the benefits of digital healthcare. We need to see this matched with action that demonstrates progress. Specific communication over NHS data …
Government Response Summary
The Department restates its recognition that it needs to improve communication on data security and the benefits of digital healthcare, and that different approaches are needed for different audiences.
14
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Para 83
Digital transformation can offer people more choice and control over their healthcare, and empower them to manage their health, and apps offer an accessible starting point for many. But whether peoples’ experiences with digital healthcare are positive depends in large part on whether they use an appropriate product. The Department …
Government Response Summary
The government closed the previous NHS Apps library as ineffective and established the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) as a national standard for digital health technologies used in the NHS. A directory of DTAC-compliant products is planned for late 2023/24, though it explicitly states this is not an accreditation scheme for all third-party apps.