How digital health will change in the NHS

When I typed ‘digital NHS’ into an AI image generator this was the slightly weird result…. Not quite what Starmer was imagining when responding to Lord Darzi’s report into the state of the NHS, published this week. So, what do the findings really mean for digital health? It’s clear there will be a significant push to drive digital transformation– both Starmer and Darzi think the NHS is still in the foothills of digitisation. But where will the focus be? Starmer has emphasised that prediction and prevention are preferable to cure so solutions that solve problems in this space could be important, from population health trends and early diagnosis all the way through to content and education. Darzi also highlighted the impact of chronic conditions and the need for ‘information to work across systems’. I think this is where much of the investment will go. Establishing a workable and interoperable infrastructure upon which more sophisticated solutions can plug into, those that enable joined up, integrated care especially so. Inevitably AI was mentioned, though I think investment will be focused on the less glitzy end of the spectrum – solutions that enable greater clinician efficiency. Speaking of clinicians experience of technology Darzi said: “it always seems to add to the workload of clinicians rather than releasing more time to care by simplifying the inevitable administrative tasks that arise.” This seems to resonate with the Health Foundations recent ‘Priorities for an AI in Healthcare’ report which advocated for AI to help in operational and admin tasks, saving time and increasing efficiency. The NHS app will feature prominently too, and it’s clear government think there's a gap between the numbers of people registered and the value the app is generating for them. Expect a ton more investment going into feature development to encourage adhoc and repeat usage, the ‘application as a platform’ capability set, and a lot more promotion. All of this begs the question as to what space this leaves for those other applications that offer similar access to GP and other healthcare services. Ultimately, as more capabilities are added, the NHS app will squeeze these other products out of the market as even the most loyal of users will switch once more services are made available. To remain relevant these alternative providers will need to embrace private services especially in the areas where the NHS provides less comprehensive cover, take advantage of the huge demand for trusted healthcare content, and get closer to patients through pharmacy services. #digitalhealth #darzireport #digitaltransformationn #nhs