Javid sets new targets for NHS digitisation

Sajid Javid has set the NHS several new technology targets including a push to get 90 per cent of all trusts on to electronic patient records by the end of next year.

Describing EPRs as the “essential prerequisite for a modern and digital NHS”, Mr Javid said the remaining 10 per cent of trusts without EPRs must be in the implementation phase by December 2023.

Unveiling a raft of new targets, Mr Javid also said he wants 75 per cent of all adults in England to have downloaded the NHS App by March 2024.

Mr Javid also warned about the risk of cyber attacks against the NHS, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

New EPR target

Currently, around four in five trusts have an EPR in place, according to Mr Javid. But he said he wanted to “accelerate” implementation for the remaining 45 trusts which lack the technology. Last autumn NHSX, which is merging with NHS England, launched a new EPR programme to increase uptake. 

The government has attempted to improve trusts’ use of EPRs since the early noughties when the now largely discredited National Programme for IT was launched.

Mr Javid said: “Without [EPRs] we cannot achieve the full potential for reform. Just as we deploy the most exciting new technologies at scale, we need to get the right foundations in place.”

Of the 45 trusts without an EPR, around 20 are currently going through the business case process.

HSJ understands NHS England is looking at ways to tailor funding packages to help the remaining trusts buy and install their EPRs, as currently most trusts must fund at least half the cost themselves. 

Mr Javid has also set a target for 80 per cent of social care providers to have a digital record in place by March 2024. Currently, around 40 per cent of providers are thought to rely on purely paper-based records.

NHS App

When NHSX was set up in summer 2019, its CEO Matthew Gould said he did not envisage the NHS App becoming the “all-singing, all dancing” tool for the public to access NHS services.

However, the pandemic has prompted a change of policy, with Mr Javid announcing the new target to increase current uptake from just over 50 per cent of adults in England to 75 per cent by March 2024.

He said: “Two years ago, the prospect that the NHS App would have been the most downloaded free iPhone app in England would have seemed unthinkable. But this app is now an essential part of life for so many.”

Mr Javid said he wanted the app to be the “future front door for interaction with the NHS”, and to be used by patients to directly communicate with their healthcare providers to receive personalised health advice and test results.

Cyber attack risk

Mr Javid also cautioned that the government and NHS must strengthen their cyber resilience, with four major cyber attacks having been prevented since 2017 – when the Wannacry attack severely crippled some NHS services.

Asked about a potential increase in cyber attacks from Russia, Mr Javid said: “I think it’s sensible for us to prepare for all type of Russian action. It would be inappropriate for the government to discuss what kind of preparations we make and the form, but I think it’s common sense to be prepared.”

He added: “Cyber attacks like these can impact patient safety just as much as what happens on a hospital ward and so in an uncertain world, this must be a focus for leaders across health and care.”

New digital plan

Mr Javid also announced that a new plan for the NHS’s digital transformation would be published in the “spring”.

“[The plan will show] how we will be driving this digital change across all these areas I’ve talked about today, and many more building on the varied lessons from this pandemic,” he said.

He also confirmed the government’s final draft of its health data strategy, and the Goldacre Review (which was due to be published last year) would both be published this spring. 

“It was a time of adversity – World War Two – that led to [the] universal healthcarewe now enjoy in this country, and the NHS was created after that, the NHS that we all know and cherish… Let’s make sure that this time of adversity kicks off a new era of digital transformation.”

Mr Javid refused to say whether he favoured “academy and reform” style trusts to transform the health service – as has been reported previously – and would only say that it was “right to look at reforms”, and that there are “some very sensible reforms ahead”.