We've launched a new report that sets out our position on the digital transformation of the National Healthcare Service (NHS) and social care across England. 

For as long as healthcare providers have used multiple IT systems, the NHS has struggled with interoperability. The problem grows exponentially as the number of systems supporting administrative and clinical processes within a healthcare provider increases and it gets even bigger when these providers are required to share information. Yet achieving interoperability is becoming ever more critical as we move towards statutory integrated care systems, through proposed legislation that has been drafted by the Government.

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.

England’s health and social care sector has made steady progress in developing secure e-health records over recent years and is now poised to begin the wider roll-out of shared patient record systems. We have outlined five key recommendations for a new, national initiative to ensure that citizens reap the benefits of digital transformation.

1.  Introduce legislation to underwrite agreed national data standards and mandate NHS organisations and social care bodies to use them for patient records. 

2.  Extend the 2024 deadline for NHS trusts to achieve a “core level of digitisation” to take account of the impact of Covid-19.

3.  Publish a technology implementation plan for health and care that sets a budget with clear milestones and measurable actions for achieving full interoperability.

4.  Provide seed funding for accelerated trials of the Trusted Research Environment model to address questions such as how to accredit participating researchers. 

5.  Commission a data security team to help NHS trusts meet the Cyber Essentials Plus standard introduced after the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack. 

Read our full report to learn more about interoperability, the barriers, a framework for digital transition, case studies, next steps, conclusions and more: The digital advantage